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Opening
Western China Wider
to the Outside World
At the turn of the new
century, while continuing to promote the opening up of the coastal
regions, the Chinese government has begun to implement the strategy
for the wide-ranging development of the western China. Western China
includes Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces,
the Ningxia Hui, Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions, and
Chongqing Municipality. Western China has an area of 5.4 million sq
km, making up 56 percent of the country’s total land territory; and
a population of 285 million, accounting for 23 percent. Western China
is rich in mineral resources, and has advantages in energy (including
hydraulic power), tourism and land resources. In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping
put forward the strategic concept for China’s modernization drive,
featuring “two situations” (one situation is that the southeastern
coastal areas will speed up their opening to the outside world, and
the other is that China should concentrate its strength to speed up
the development of its central and western tegions. In the past 21
years, since the adoption of the policies of reform and opening to
the outside world, the development of the coastal regions, especially
the development of traditional industries, has gradually become saturated,
so the coastal areas need to look for new markets. The development
of western China is now extremely urgent. The implementation of the
strategy for the development of western China, opening it wider to
the outside world, and encouraging domestic and foreign enterprises
to participate in the development of infrastructure facilities and
natural resources in the region will benefit China’s economic development
in the 21st century. Hence the Chinese government is working
out an overall plan for the development of the western region, and
has formulated a series of preferential policies and measures for
encouraging foreign business people to invest there. The Chinese government
welcomes foreign investors to participate in the development of the
country’s western part. |
