Boost for western areas mulled

More measures are in the pipeline to boost investment in infrastructure in China's western areas, a senior official with the nation's top economic regulator said on Thursday.

The planned measures will seek to stem the investment downtrend that may hinder balanced development of the economy, he said.

"Weighed down by a decline in fixed-asset investment growth, economic development in some western parts witnessed a major decline," said Xiao Weiming, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission.