China will increase support for its underdeveloped western regions in areas such as taxation and environmental protection, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Friday.

The meeting was presided over by Hu Jintao, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.

"The western part of the nation is strategically important and there should be special policies to support the region," the meeting's statement said.

Support should be increased with "greater resolution and force," the statement added.

The areas that should receive increased support include finance, taxation, investment, industry, land usage, pricing, the environment and human resource development.

Development should be coordinated, people-oriented and self-reliant, the statement said.

The statement also said infrastructure construction and water conservation projects must be prioritized while a safe, efficient and modern infrastructure is built.

The statement also said environmental protection and geological-disaster-prevention efforts must be enhanced.

It also said agriculture must be improved and efforts be made to increase farmers' income.

Competitive industries in the region should be further developed and state-level industrial bases for energy, natural resources processing and equipment manufacturing should be established, it said.

It also stressed technological innovation, social undertakings, education, health care, employment, social security and cultural development in the western region.

The statement said the development of key economic zones should be hastened with optimized planning.

Development in the old revolutionary bases and in poor, ethnic and border regions must be addressed, it said.

It also said ethnic and religious harmony is important to the region's stability.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the strategy to develop the west.

The statement said over the past 10 years, infrastructure development of the western region had resulted in remarkable gains, with the region's economic growth faster than the national average and an improvement in people's livelihoods.

However, it said the development of China's west still lagged far behind the east.

It said, "The prosperity and stability of the west has a bearing on people's livelihoods, the overall development of the country's reform and opening-up, the socialist modernization drive and the country's stability and revival."

It said other parts of China should actively support and participate in the development of the western regions.