Speaking at the first meeting of the newly elected State Council's western development leadership team in Beijing, Wen, who is also the team leader, said the work in this area is of great and far-reaching significance for accelerating the development of China's socialist modernization and will continue to be the central government's priority.

The major campaign to develop the west was launched in March 2000 and covers Chongqing Municipality, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Guangxi Zhuang, Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions and Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

The meeting reviewed the achievements that have been made on western development in the past years and said environmental protection and economic construction in the region have exhibited a dynamic new look.

Wen urged government officials, especially those in the western regions, whose performance largely decides the success of the campaign, to enhance awareness of the importance of the work and to further explore innovative ways of promoting the region's economic development.

Wen said China's development strategy for its western region would continue to focus on the protection of environment and infrastructure construction in 2003. He also urged the local officials to speed up the construction of small infrastructure in rural areas.

Other efforts high on the agenda are directed at developing science, technology and education, enhancing the basic position of agriculture while developing industries that exploit local conditions and transforming resource advantages into economic advantages.

(China Daily June 11, 2003)