Li: Accelerate western development

Advance infrastructure, industry upgrades for region, premier urges

A number of major projects, including the SichuanTibet and Chongqing-Yunnan railways, should be accelerated in the western regions of China to help prioritize economic structure and expand domestic consumption, Premier Li Keqiang said.

These projects should focus on western China’s shortcomings and also be in line with national planning, Li said when presiding over a meeting of the State Council leading group for promoting western development on

Tuesday.

The strategy for western development has aimed for balanced regional growth in China for about two decades. It benefits 12 provincial regions, including Chongqing, the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, and China’s five autonomous regions, such as Tibet.

The premier said western regions have made enormous achievements in their social and economic development in the past five years. But they still need to rely on reform and opening-up to increase development momentum and realize industrial upgrading and improvement of people’s livelihoods.

The central government will offer support, and western regions should actively encourage the participation of private capital in those major projects, Li said. Some key water diversion projects in the provinces of Yunnan, Qinghai and Gansu and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region should be promoted, he said.

Li called for faster infrastructure construction to dispose of wastewater and trash under an innovative mechanism of investment and management to promote a newtype urbanization.

Consumption potential should be tapped by encouraging emerging online shopping and consumption in cultural and healthcare sectors, he said.

The western regions should reduce institutional costs and improve the competitiveness of their industries, targeting key issues that hamper the development of enterprises and the public welfare, Li said.

In addition, Li urged winning the battle of poverty alleviation in the west and improving public services such as education, healthcare and employment by using new means such as the internet, especially for remote and poverty-stricken areas.

The leading group was reshuffled last month, following the new lineup of the State Council, China’s Cabinet, in March. The leading group has promoted the strategy of western development since 2000. Li became head of the leading group in 2013 after he assumed office.

Western regions cover an area of more than 6.8 million square kilometers with nearly 30 percent of the country’s population. Last year, they accounted for one-fifth of China’s GDP.

Over the past five years, economic growth of these western regions went up by 8.8 percent annually, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The increase was 7.4 percent in the first half of this year.

Fixed-asset investment rose by 13 percent per year. More than 35 million people were lifted out of poverty during those five years.

These projects should focus on western China’s shortcomings and also be in line with national planning.