Western program new engine for growth

Due to rising labor costs and a saturated market, the coastal areas are losing growth momentum. And experts believe the western region, which boasts a huge market and big pool of labor, is bound to become the country's new growth engine.

Wang Jun, a senior economist at China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a top government think tank, said western development is key to China's economic restructuring and the transformation of its growth pattern.

The region's economic performance would help the country achieve this year's growth target of 7.5 percent, he added.

Some western cities have grown faster than their rich counterparts in the east.

In the first half of this year, three western cities — Guiyang in Guizhou province, Xining in Qinghai province and Kunming in Yunnan province — topped the national list in terms of year-on-year growth.

The nation launched its western development program in 2000 to help the west catch up with the east in economic growth. The program covers more than half of the country's land and almost one-third of its population. Many western provinces and regions have benefited from the program in the past decade.

Gansu's economy has expanded an average 11.2 percent during the past 13 years, with fixed-asset investment gaining 24.3 percent each year.

But the western provinces hope the central government will issue more preferential policies and spend more to improve infrastructure there.

Wei Hong, governor of Sichuan province, said the central government should prioritize investment expansion in the west by extending specific support to key projects.

Wang Jun said the premier has sent a clear signal to boost western development, and "more specific measures are expected in the coming months" that will cover railway construction, urban renovation and improvement in the medical system.