Chinese President Jiang Zemin has called for greater efforts to deepen reform, expand the opening to the outside world and find a new road of development for the west of the country.

He urged innovative thinking, methods and systems to suit the development of the socialist market economy and the new situation China faces after accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Jiang, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks while presiding over a workshop on the development of west China, held in Chongqing during May 23-24. Leading officials from six provincial administrative areas in the western region attended the meeting.

The key to resolving all the problems encountered in the development of the western region is to speed up development, Jiang told the participants.

Efforts should be made to strive for sustainable social and economic development by correctly dealing with the relationship between economic construction and saving resources, environmental protection, social progress and overall human development.

On April 1, Jiang also presided over a similar workshop in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, which was attended by leading officials from five provinces and autonomous regions from the northwest and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Both meetings are aimed at reviewing experiences gained from carrying out the western development strategy, and fixing the direction for the next stage of the work.

Jiang stressed that hastening the development of productive force in the western region depends on rational readjustment of the productive relations, deep-going reforms and innovation of the system.

Party committees and governments at all levels in west China should strive to improve the local investment environment, further transform their administrative functions, be good at dealing with economic affairs by economic and legal means, strengthen and improve macro-economic control, and give full play to the fundamental role of the market in resource allocation.

The legitimate rights and benefits of enterprises and investors must be protected and a social environment for fair competition with good credit be created.

At the same time, the reform and reorganization of state-owned enterprises must be stepped up according to the requirements for the establishment of a modern corporate system, while efforts are needed to promote the development of the private sector.

Work must be done to make good use of domestic and foreign markets and domestic and foreign resources to develop an economy that opens to the outside world in an all-round manner.

Jiang stressed that top priority should always be given to maintaining stability as the premise for propelling reforms and speeding up development.

The development of west China requires efforts to serve the people heart and soul, continuously improve the livelihood of the people in poverty-stricken, ethnic minority and border areas, while ensuring the social security for workers and staff of state-owned enterprises in west China.

To strengthen the rule of law in the western region, China should learn from the efforts of foreign countries in their own underdeveloped areas, Jiang suggested.

Jiang put special emphasis on people with expertise in developing the west, saying it is important to boost personnel training so as to improve the quality of professionals in the west.

The next five to 10 years are a key period for carrying out the strategy to develop the western region. The plans and policies of the central government must be carried out consciously, and all departments of the central government must support to local governments, he stressed.

(China Daily May 25, 2002)