China is betting on its western development program to lead a new round of economic growth as the government is mulling "differentiated" policies for the region that will feature huge spending on infrastructure, Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday.
"We will roll out more preferential policies tailored for the western region concerning infrastructure projects, to accelerate the construction and upgrading of rail and road networks," he said.
Healthy economic development in the western region holds the key to the country's overall economic health.
Due to rising labor costs and a saturated market, the coastal areas are losing growth momentum. And experts believe the western region, which boasts a huge market and big pool of labor, is bound to become the country's new growth engine.
"We will roll out more preferential policies tailored for the western region concerning infrastructure projects, to accelerate the construction and upgrading of rail and road networks," he said.
Healthy economic development in the western region holds the key to the country's overall economic health.
Due to rising labor costs and a saturated market, the coastal areas are losing growth momentum. And experts believe the western region, which boasts a huge market and big pool of labor, is bound to become the country's new growth engine.
Some western cities have grown faster than their rich counterparts in the east.
In the first half of this year, three western cities Guiyang in Guizhou province, Xining in Qinghai province and Kunming in Yunnan province topped the national list in terms of year-on-year growth.
Source: China Daily
