West China Looks Back on a Decade

The implementation of China’s opening-up policy rolled out a set of tactics within a general strategy – let some people and some places get rich first. Deng Xiaoping also emphasized on several occasions that the central government had the obligation to help undeveloped areas flourish too. China first opened up the eastern coastal areas, and soon Guangdong, Shanghai and Zhejiang resurrected themselves amid new economic and social booms. Meanwhile, West China looked on and waited anxiously for the tides of fortune to turn their way. Finally the new millennium brought the Western Development Strategy, designed to enhance the inner strength and capability of the 12 provincial-level jurisdictions in West China. A decade has passed since these regions started to maneuver out of their backwardness and set a course to catch up with eastern prosperity. What changes has the strategy brought about, and how much has the west advanced? The following articles try to give an answer.

The first high-speed railway in western China – between Zhengzhou and Xi’an – went into operation on February 6, 2010. China Foto Press