Leadership highlights development of western region

The leadership of the Communist Party of China has reiterated the need to push forward the national strategy for the development of China's western region to enhance its overall strength and sustainable development capabilities, according to a key Party meeting on Friday.

The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, which was presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, reviewed a document comprising specific measures to further drive the development of the western region and step up the forming of a new pattern of well-coordinated environmental conservation, large-scale opening-up, and high-quality development, according to a statement released.

The meeting came four months after Xi presided over a symposium in Chongqing on promoting the development of the western region in the new era. During that meeting, Xi proposed specific requirements on how to solve the problem of unbalanced and insufficient development and give full play to the comparative advantages of the western region.

China's vast western region, which covers 12 provincial-level regions and accounts for more than 21 percent of the country's GDP, is vital to the country's overall development.

Xi said at April's symposium that the western region plays an important role in China's reform, development and stability.

It was emphasized at Friday's meeting that efforts should be made to comprehensively deepen reforms to further liberate and develop social productive forces, energize and enhance social vitality and chart a path toward Chinese modernization that suits the reality of the western region.

The meeting's participants said that emphasis should be placed on strengthening and expanding distinctive advantageous industries, enhancing technological innovation capabilities, and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

They called for upholding high-level ecological conservation in the region, intensifying efforts in the prevention and control of environmental pollution, and advancing green and low-carbon development.

Efforts should be made to continuously enhance the region's development momentum and raise the level of its economical openness, they said.

It was noted at the meeting that the security guarantee capacity in key areas should be strengthened to ensure energy and resource supplies, and efforts should be made to promote the construction of clean energy bases.

It is necessary to promote new-type urbanization tailored to local conditions, advance comprehensive rural revitalization, consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, and make sure that there will be no relapsing into poverty on a large scale in rural areas, the meeting's participants noted.

As the western region includes regions like the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Xizang autonomous region, the meeting's participants stressed the importance of fostering a sense of community among the Chinese nation and effectively safeguarding national unity and border stability.

The Central Leading Group for Coordinated Regional Development must strengthen overall coordination while relevant departments in the central government must put forth targeted policies and measures, according to the statement released after the meeting.

Local Party committees and governments at all levels in the western region must shoulder principal responsibilities and work together to write a new chapter for the development of the western region, the statement said.

Thanks to the national strategy, which was launched in 2000, the western region grew rapidly in the past two decades. It has integrated into the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and built a multilevel opening-up platform, overcoming its past geographical disadvantage and forming a pattern of opening-up between the land and sea and between the east and the west.

Observers said that as more measures supporting the western region are to be rolled out, the region's development will take greater strides forward in the years ahead.