is an important strategic issue relating to the overall situation of China's modernization construction. His views included the following eight aspects:

First, the western development drive is closely related to the overall situation of China's modernization construction. The difficulty in China's modernization lies in the west rather than in the east, and the final round of China's modernization may be also start in the west. Therefore, the western development drive is a long-term development strategy and long-term task. The development of the west must be fully pursued throughout the 21st century.

Second, as the modernization of China's traditional industry started not long ago, the fundamental changes in the economic system and the way of economic growth have not been completed, and the development levels of different regions differ greatly, it is a problem how to accurately judge the development stage of China's economy from the overall prospect. As the economic globalization process is accelerating, and science and technology are daily progressing, what stages should China go through to realize industrialization and modernization? What common ground and specialties does China have with other countries? All these problems must be studied carefully from the aspect of China's real situation. Consideration of these problems is a premise for the study of western development.

Third, the western development drive needs careful planning and a gradual process. The most important task now is to understand the present situation of the west, determine how many stages are necessary to modernize the west, and what characteristics; aims and tasks of each stage are, thereby realizing modernization gradually. We should decide the development focus, the potential of economic growth, and internal and external conditions at the first stage.

Fourth, the regional differences are actually differences between urban and rural areas, and also differences in industrialization and urbanization. China's industrialization and modernization both started in cities, and will be completed in the countryside. The difficulty of China's modernization drive lies in the vast rural areas rather than in the urban areas. The substance of the problem is the urbanization of hundreds of millions of rural residents, so we must study an urbanization road with Chinese characteristics at present.

Fifth, we must abide by the principle of allowing some areas to become rich ahead of others before realizing common development and common prosperity. In the western development drive, the industrial restructuring of the country and the regional economic restructuring must be considered together. The present task is to study how to promote the economic revitalization of the western regions and promote the coordinated development of the national economy.

Sixth, China's economic development has entered a new stage. This is the background to China's overall development, including western development. That is to say, we should fully take into consideration the fundamental changes in China's domestic market, and try to expand openings to domestic and international markets by way of the market mechanism.

Seventh, the government must play its due role in the western development drive. However, questions remain as to what resources the government can supply, what measures the government can take, and how we can improve the effects of government policies. To date, the government has given more support to the western regions in infrastructure construction, and it will continue to do so. However, the financial capability of the Central Government is limited. Therefore, it should put more efforts into transferring the resources, both domestic and international ones, in the developed regions to the west by way of reform, perfection of the economic system and expansion of the opening-up drive.

Eighth, The present division of east, central and west China is made on the comprehensive consideration of geographical location, administrative division and economic development level. This division is not perfect at all. However, the main question is how to harness the potential of under-developed regions and give full play to their advantages. The central region has an important position in the nation's development, so enough attention must be paid to it. In fact, some of the country's preferential policies cover both the central and western regions.

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