China Western Development

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		The wealthy east coast
		"Rise of Central China"
		"Revitalize Northeast China"
		"China Western Development"

China Western Development (simplified Chinese: 西部大开发; traditional Chinese: 西部大開發; pinyin: Xībù Dàkāifā), also China's Western Development, Western China Development, Great Western Development Strategy, or the Open Up the West Program is a policy adopted by the People's Republic of China to boost its less developed western regions.

The policy covers 6 provinces (Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan), 5 autonomous regions (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang), and 1 municipality (Chongqing). This region contains 71.4% of mainland China's area, but only 28.8% of its population, as of the end of 2002, and 16.8% of its total economic output, as of 2003.

1 History
2 Strategy
- 2.1 Transportation
3 Effects
- 3.1 Recent developments
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the People's Republic of China began to reform its economy in 1978 by changing from a command economy to a market economy. The coastal regions of eastern China benefited greatly from these reforms, and their economies quickly raced ahead. The western half of China, however, lagged behind severely. In order to help the western half of China catch up with the eastern half, a Leadership Group for Western China Development (西部地区开发领导小组) was created by the State Council in January 2000, led by then-Premier Zhu Rongji.

[edit] Strategy

The main components of the strategy include the development of infrastructure (transport, hydropower plants, energy, and telecommunications), enticement of foreign investment, increased efforts on ecological protection (such as reforestation), promotion of education, and retention of talent flowing to richer provinces. As of 2006, a total of 1 trillion yuan has been spent building infrastructure in western China.

[edit] Transportation

The western development bureau affiliated to the state council released a list of 10 major projects to launch in 2008, the total investment is 151.6 billion yuan (US$20 billion).

The 10 projects are as follows:

New railways linking Dali to Ruili; and Kuitun to Beitun in Yunnan Province are to be built.

Railways linking Baotou to Xi'an, and Xining to Ge'ermu are to be reconstructed.

Highways between Tianshui and Dingxi, Duyun and Xinzhai are to be built.

Kunming airport is to be relocated.

Branch airports in western China are to be constructed.

Hydropower stations in Dagang Mountain and Shi Gorge hydropower station are be built.

A purified terephthalic acid project, the chemical used to make polyester, (0.6 million ton) made by Chongqing Pengwei Ltd is to be set up.

A 10 million-ton oil refining project in Guangxi and Sichuan Provinces is be constructed.

The Huangyuchuan coal mine and Suanci Ditch's 10 million ton coal project in Inner Mongolia.

Other projects dealing with education, health and other social projects.

By the end of last year, the government had already invested 1152.6 billion yuan (US$152 billion) in developing western China.

[edit] Effects

China's western regions have reported an annual average economic growth rate of 10.6% for six years in a row. The combined GDP of western regions reached 3.33 trillion yuan in 2005, compared with 1.66 trillion yuan in 2000, while net income grew on average 10% for urban residents in the west and 6.8% for rural residents. [1] Part of the strategy involves encouraging Chinese from wealthier and more crowded regions of China to move to the relatively less crowded western regions. This has drastically increased the numbers of Han Chinese in traditionally non-Han cities such as Lhasa and Urumqi, exacerbating existing ethnic tensions. In an interview with Wikinews, Tashi Wangdi, Representative of the Dalai Lama, spoke of these tensions. "[Development] is not benefiting the local Tibetans. It is providing facilities for the resettlement of Han Chinese in Tibet. At every point of development, and any casual visitor such as a tourist can see it, all the development is in Chinese towns and cities. The local people have become more and more marginalized. There are minor side benefits, of course, but if it continues Tibetans will become a completely insignificant minority increasingly marginalized."^[1] At the moment 6,1% of the population in Tibet, are of Han chinese ethnicity [2].