China to further intensify efforts in developing the western and central regions

China will accelerate the push for promoting coordinated regional development, and more efforts will be made to further develop the country's western region and accelerate the rise of the central region, the country's top economic regulator said on Tuesday.

The National Development and Reform Commission said the country will give full play to the comparative advantages of the central and western regions to build the modern industrial system.

The country will speed up the construction of key projects and ramp up efforts to continuously deepen reforms and expand opening-up in the central and western regions, the NDRC said.

Xiao Weiming, director of the Department of Regional Economy at the NDRC, told a news conference held in Beijing on Tuesday that the regional development gap within China has narrowed notably during the past decade.

According to Xiao, China's central region and its western region accounted for 22 percent and 21.1 percent of the country's GDP in 2021, respectively, up from 21.3 percent and 19.6 percent in 2012.

Huang Weibo, deputy director of the comprehensive group at the office of the leading group on deepening all-round reform and opening-up in Hainan, highlighted the key role of the central and western regions in promoting China's coordinated regional development, calling for more efforts to strengthen weak links such as infrastructure construction and improving people's livelihood.

Official data showed that the central and western regions cover 82 percent of the country's land area, and they have 53 percent of China's population.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn