The vast western region has recorded marked economic growth in recent decades, especially since the Chinese government launched a strategic campaign to develop this region more than two years ago.

Statistics show that the gross domestic product (GDP) for the western region reached 1.2 trillion yuan (US$145.5 billion) in the first three quarters of 2001, a rise of 8.7 percent over the same previous period and 1.1 percent higher than the national average.

The western region covers 56 percent of China's total land area and has a population of 300 million.

To date, the Chinese government has poured more than 400 billion yuan (US$48.19 billion) into the "Develop the West" campaign. The investments mainly went to the construction of railways, highways, drinking water projects for local residents, airports, high-tech zones and information technology.

The growth rate of investment in the western region has far exceeded that in eastern and central China, authoritative sources said.

According to the Ministry of Communications, more than 3,300 kilometers of expressways have been built in the western region since 1999 and China plans to invest 700-800 billion yuan (US$84.33-96.38 billion) in building 350,000 kilometers (217,490 miles) of highways in west China in the next 10 years.

"We'll not only build an economically-developed western region, but also a new west with sound ecological environment," said Abdurehim Ajiyimin, vice-chairman of the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the westmost of China.

To restore the natural beauty of west China, some 1.33 million hectares (3.28 million acres) of sloping and low-yield farmland have been returned to forest and grassland over the past three years. At the same time, projects to protect natural forest, harness sand storms and conserve water and soil are going on smoothly in the western region.

The changing face of west China has caught the attention of foreign investors, including many multinational corporations such as the Shell Oil, BP, IBM, Siemens, Kodak and Toshiba.

Statistics show that as of 2001, the western region had used US$20.34 billion of foreign investment. Last year alone, the western region attracted more than US$4.4 billion in contractual foreign investment, with US$1.924 billion put to use. Both the figures rose by more than 15 percent over the previous year.

The growth rate of foreign investment in the western region has surpassed the national average for three consecutive years, according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The most noticeable change in the western region is that local people have changed a lot in their ideas and way of doing things, said Cheng Andong, governor of Shaanxi Province in northwest China.

E-mails, Western-style fast food and many other new things are popular among local people, according to Cheng, attributing all the changes to the fast economic growth and opening-up.

The western region is expected to make a breakthrough in development in the next five to 10 years, predicted Lu Zheng, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "A brand new west China is sure to come into being," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2002)