The Chinese central authorities have set down strategic plans for far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to achieve leapfrog development and lasting stability.

At a central work conference on Xinjiang's development concluded Wednesday, President Hu Jintao said Xinjiang should embark on a development path with Chinese characteristics and one that suits the region's situation.

Despite Xinjiang's rapid development in recent years, it is still lagging behind the country's economically-developed eastern region due to various historical, natural and social reasons, he said.

Hu said the region should comprehensively push forward its economic, political, cultural and social development and enhance Party building under the new circumstances.

By 2015, per capita GDP in Xinjiang should catch up with the country's average level and the residents' income and their access to basic public services should reach the average level of the country's western regions, Hu said.

"Marked" improvement must be achieved in Xinjiang's infrastructure, self-development capacity, ethnic unity, and social stability within five years, he told the conference.

Xinjiang should fulfill the goal of achieving a moderately prosperous society in all aspects by 2020 by promoting coordinated regional development. It should also improve people's living standards and build an eco-friendly environment, as well as ensure ethnic unity, social stability and security, he said.

Hu said managing Xinjiang well under the new circumstances is essential for improving the living standards of all ethnic groups. It is also a strategic imperative to ensure the development of the western region.

It is the common aspiration and responsibility of Chinese people of all ethnic groups to accelerate the process of building "a prosperous, harmonious and stable socialist Xinjiang," he said.

Hu noted that like other regions of the country, the society's principal problem is the gap between the fast growing material and cultural needs of the people and the low level of social production.