Vice-Premier urges acceleration of western development
( 2003-07-28 10:32) (Xinhua)
Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan has called for an acceleration of China's western
development strategy to boost economic growth in the country's underdeveloped
western regions.
Zeng was speaking Saturday at a workshop in Yinchuan City, capital of
northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which was attended by leading
officials from Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and Xinjiang Uygur, Ningxia
Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, as well as the Xinjiang Production
and Construction Corps.
Zeng pointed out that China had started well in its implementation of the
western development strategy over the past three years, which saw the launch of
a series of major developmentprojects and environmental protection programs.
An effective mechanism to protect the environment was needed while developing
local economies, ensuring the performance of local development projects and
realizing a coordinated economic and social development in both cities and rural
areas. It also needed to optimize the structure of industries, improve
investmentenvironments, and establish a long-term, stable channel of financing
for the western region, he noted.
During his stay in Ningxia, Zeng, who is also member of the Political Bureau
of the Communist Party of China Central Committee,visited villages to see the
lives and production of farmers and herding families, and to study the progress
of programs to return farmland to forest or grassland.
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