Premier Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the steering group on western development on Aug 21, which laid out more measures to push forward the drive.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission and western provinces and cities reported the current progress.
Premier Li, also the group leader, said, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the western regions had made historical achievements in economic and social development, providing strong support to the nation.
Western regions, he said, breed strategic space for the nation’s development, and are also a key area to build a comprehensive prosperous and modern society.
He stressed that western regions shall strive for high-quality and balanced growth, promote industrial upgrades, and improve people’s livelihoods through reform, opening-up and innovation.
Premier Li said it is necessary to create a more competitive soft environment to enhance the self-development capacity in western regions.
Meanwhile, administrative reform shall be deepened to solve outstanding problems that hinder the development of enterprises, with greater steps in reducing institutional costs.
“We must take entrepreneurship and innovation as an opportunity to promote industrial competitiveness across the western region,” he said.
The Premier said more work should be done to integrate optimization of the economic structure and expansion of domestic demand.
According to the Premier, efforts should be made to focus on key shortcomings, and promote construction of a number of major projects in the west that are in urgent need and in line with national planning.
In addition to increased support from the government, western regions also need to actively attract private capital through deepening reforms, and accelerate the construction of large-scale channels such as the Sichuan-Tibet Railway and the Chongqing-Kunming Railway, he said.
