Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions and Qinghai Province in western China are behind when it comes to economic growth but are rich in natural resources, which is both an obstruction and a bonus for their development.

At the ongoing forum for cooperation between eastern and western China held from Saturday to tomorrow in Xi'an, the three provincial areas all displayed some 540 projects which featured the digging up of natural resources.

Niu Yuru, leader of the Inner Mongolia delegation to the forum, said his region has the richest resources of rare earth, which covers over 70 percent of the world's total reserves.

"Rare earth products are used on a large scale in industries of information, automobile, environment protection and raw materials. We hope investors both from home and abroad develop the resource and make full use of it," Niu said.

And in Ningxia, another autonomous region, the largest reserve of gypsum in China can be found, as well as another 50 minerals including coal, gas and oil. According to Ma Junting, vice-chairman of Ningxia who led the region to the Xi'an forum, the average potential value of natural resources per person is 1.6 times over the national average level.

Qinghai is a plateau province in Northwest China and has been listed by the central government as one of the key regions for water resources development, said Zhao Zhao, deputy director of Qinghai Economy and Trade Commission, at the Xi'an forum.

(China Daily April 09, 2002)