On January 16, 2000, the State Council set up a task force to implement its strategic resolution on developing China's west. Since then, the central government reiterated its commitment to the strategy for several times. Amazing changes have taken place in the land covering 6.85 million square kilometers with a pollution of about 372 million by the end of 2004 and 2.57 trillion yuan GDP for 2004.
In the past five years, the central government has injected more than 960 billion yuan to boost the development of the region. Fixed asset investment grew about 20 percent annually and is expected to continue the momentum. The regional economy moved forward at a pace of 8.5 percent, 8.8 percent , 10 percent and 11.3 percent respectively from 2000 to 2003. It is most likely that the speed in 2004 is faster.
850 billion yuan was invested in 60 new key projects in the five years in this area to improve its infrastructure. As a result, 91,000 kilometers of newly built roads and about 2819 kilometers of new railroads were open to traffic. 4066.5 kilometers of rails, including 777 kilometers for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, have been laid. About 1653 kilometers of dual-rail and 1831 kilometers of electrical railways have been in operation. Projects of 22 airports have also completed and another 16 is still under construction.
China's west is also an important supplier of electricity to the east. Projects for more than 36 million kilowatts of power generation and 13,300 kilometers of grid network have been launched. The power grid transmitting 10 million kilowatts to Guangdong is ready a year earlier than scheduled. An array of water conservancy projects have been completed and 115 irritating areas have been upgraded. 535 water-saving model projects have been in place and 621 water reservoirs have been consolidated.
Rural areas have begun to enjoy better working and living condition. The 7.1 billion yuan investment in the past five years brings water to the thirsty 32 miilion population in the west. The government financed 4.6 billion yuan to relocate 1.02 million poverty-hit population who used to struggle in the environment with weak ecology which hardly supported survival.
The government also spent 1 billion yuan on the 960,000 methane pits in the rural areas in the west. 969 villages which used to have no electricity have bright nights now. Radio and TV broadcasting connect 68,000 administrative villages with the outside world.
Great efforts have also been made on the improvement of the environment there. By the end of last year, 118 million mu of land had been recovered for forest and 170 million mu of waste land had grown trees. 190 million mu of severely damaged grass land has been restored in pasture areas.
Conservation of natural forests, treatment of sand storm sources, water pollution treatment for the upper reach along Yangtze River and urban pollution in major cities are progressing smoothly.
The 15 billion yuan of government fund has gone to the education, especially the compulsory education in rural areas there. 6.5 billion yuan has been spent to offer better public health care service to farmers.
China's east and foreign investors have found the west is increasingly attractive. The region has absorbed more than 9 billion USD of foreign direct investment and more than 300 billion yuan capital of more than 10, 000 eastern businesses.
Industries in the west are gaining ground on the domestic market. Faster development has been seen in industries like power, coal, oil and natural gas, nonferrous metal, cotton, husbandry, tourism, equipment manufacturing and hi-tech.
The massive demand for equipment, materials, technologies and talents to power the development in the west represents enormous market and investment opportunities for businesses in the east and mid-China which also benefit from those key projects.
However, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also recognized that there was still a long way to go to develop the country's west which faces poor infrastructure, ecological deterioration, water shortage, underdeveloped education, health care and culture, brain drain, lukewarm influx of foreign and private capital, systematic barriers and weak self-reliance momentum for further development.
Wen is very clear about the situation in the coutnry's west. With 30 percent of the total population of the whole nation, compared with the east, the west area generates only 40 percent of GDP and 50 percent of farmers income on average. More than 60 percent of the poverty stricken population are in the west, which means 20 million here are not sufficiently fed and dressed.
In China, 80 percent of water and soil erosion, together with more than 90 percent of newly added desertification happens in the west. Water and air pollution is serious in the craddle of major rivers including Yangtze River and Yellow River.
West China is home for 75 percent of the whole population of the country's ethnic minority groups. It neighbors on 14 countries and regions with 85 percent of the nation's land border.
Wen made firm commitments on the central government's support for a bright prospect of the country's west in his article which published on February 4. He regards the strategy as a step of both economic and political significance. He stresses that the persistent efforts on the mission have direct bearing on the lasting peace and security of the nation, and the prospect of a comprehensive well-off society and a rational new structure for the national economy.
In Wen's solution to bring blossom to the region, the awareness of updated conception, further reform and opening-up, pragmatism and self-reliance and diligence is highlighted. With this mind, he drafted a roadmap for the future of the west for the present and the time to come.
Agriculture, he insists, is the fundamental for the historic campaign. The way is to protect arable land to increase grain output, promote the agricultural industrialization, implement favorable tax policies, develop unique agriculture, create more employment for surplus rural labor force, and inject more financial support to rural areas and the agriculture. He expects poverty be relieved by 2007.
Wen believes it is possible and necessary to take both the environmental protection and the interest of farmers under care. He especially mentioned the environmental treatment and land recovery in major cities, the Three Gorges area and important mining areas.
He required that construction of infrastructure be beefed up. Resources should be mobilized for transportation, power, water conservancy and communication. A water saving community and network access are expected.
China's west is endowed with rich resources. Wen hopes this advantage will lead to the industrial and economic comparative advantage. He stressed that the market should play a leading role in the process and warned against any blind investment and duplicated construction, or any transfer of backward techniques and equipment.
He sees education as the driving force for the boom of the western area. The State Council, he said, has decided to take five years to basically extend the nine-year compulsory education and eliminate illiteracy across the region. More talents should be attracted there.
A public health care network will cover counties, towns and villages. The policy of population control should be strengthened by giving incentives to farmers so that they are willing to have less kids and better life.
Premier Wen urged to speed up the reform and opening-up of the west. He instructed that old industrial bases be revived, private sector be propped up, local protectionism and blockage be broken up, investment environment be improved, market access be loosened, border trade and economic cooperation be promoted and reform on administrative system be accelerated.
He finally required a strong leadership and teamwork among various areas and government departments. He said that the concept of scientific development stood at the core of the mission.
Last but not the least, Wen unveiled that a law has been planned by the National People's Congress to promote the development of China's west. It will work with other specially designed laws and regulations such as one for the ecological environment protection in the west, which are also under consideration. An overall blueprint for the prospect of the west should be drafted and preliminary studies on priorities should be conducted, he noted.
Chinese President Hu Jintao also delivered a speech at a symposium commemorating the fifth anniversary of the strategy of "Developing West China" in
Beijing the same day. He reviewed the positive results in the five years. He has the same opinion as Wen about the way of the country' west to prosperity. Hu also reiterated the government's support to the grow-up of the region.
Just a few days ago on January 30, the central government released the seventh No. 1 document on the three agricultural issues, that is, agriculture, rural areas and farmers. It is identified as a significant and pressing strategic task to strengthen the agricultural infrastructure, make faster progress on science and technologies for agriculture, and improve the production capability. It promises consistent and firm support for the agriculture.
It is good news for China's west which is the most important base for grain, fruits and vegetables but lags behind in technology. The processing industry for farm produces still needs further boost. The industrialization of the agriculture there needs more participation of investors from home and abroad.
China has launched its reform on rural financial system. Rural credit cooperatives are expected to be reshuffled. Pilot projects are underway in the west. Some foreign investors, such as Rabobank, have shown great interest in participation.
China needs more energy to fuel its fast growing economy. The west region is rich in natural resources. In a recent interview China Geological Survey pinned high hope on China's west for new mineral sources.
According to a blueprint for the transportation of the west, by the end of 2007, national trunk roads will cover the whole region. By 2010, an inter-provincial road network will be ready which extends more than 940,000 kilometers with 20,000 kilometers of highway open to traffic. And interconnection with ASEAN has been taken into consideration in the planning of roads, waterways and national highways.
There are a lot of colleges and research institutes in the west and it is another important old industrial base. Now colleges students who choose to work in the west for a few years after graduation enjoy favorable policy for their further study. But a better system is needed to keep and attract more talents.
The environment in the west also has drawn much attention. Both Premier Wen and President Hu stressed the protection of the ecological environment in the west. 2005 is believed to be a "year of environmental protection". Recently the Three Gorges Project Corporation was ordered to stop the construction of some of its power generators due to the failure of submitting the report on environmental influence assessment.
As China put hydropower at the top priority of its renewable energy strategy, rivers in the west have great potential for development. But the government is vigilant about overinvestment on power plants along rivers there which may cause ecological damage to local environment.
The gap between China's west and east is still widening. Unprecedented importance has been given to agriculture since China's new generation of top decision-makers took office. Now the top leaders give specific guidelines for the development of the country's west. This means a further step to a balanced development. And for the west and those who are interest in the west and China's agriculture, it means opportunities.
