China's leading newspaper, the People's Daily, runs an editorial on January 24 titled "A Great Decision of Strategic Importance", highlighting the central government's initiative to develop the vast western regions.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has put forward the initiative of developing the economically backward western part of the country at a time when China has nearly successfully completed its second-stage strategic modernization objectives and is ready to enter the third-stage, says the editorial.

It says the CPC has always paid great importance to coordinated economic development. In the early 1950s, the late Chairman Mao Zedong emphasized the need to manage well industrial development in both the coastal cities and the hinterland.

In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping put forward the two-step strategy of national economic development: first, to concentrate on accelerating the development of coastal areas in the east; and then to shift the focus to the west, which needs the already developed coastal areas to help the hinterland to develop for common prosperity. Now Jiang Zemin, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, has placed the strategy of developing the west on top of the agenda of the Party and government.

The western regions, abundantly rich in resources and largely inhabited by minority ethnic groups, have achieved great progress over past 50 years. However, there still exists a fairly big gap between the eastern and western parts of China. Developing the west will help expand domestic demand, narrow economic differences between China's east and west for common prosperity, and maintain national prosperity, social stability and border security.

The time is ripe for faster development in the western regions as the rapid economic growth has enabled the government to give anunprecedented strong support, the editorial says, adding that the eastern areas, after years of development, have been able to lend a hand, while the western regions also have certain material conditions for economic take-off.

The editorial calls for a pragmatic approach in carrying out the strategy for coordinated regional economic development, saying that infrastructure construction must be stepped up to lay a sound foundation, with priority given to eco-environmental protection, industrial restructuring, and science and education.

Advanced technologies from at home and overseas should be fully utilized to make good use of local resources and capital for healthy economic growth. Policies are needed for attracting talented professionals from across the country.

The central government will continue to increase investment to support infrastructure and environmental projects in the western areas, says the editorial, calling on governments at all levels, especially in the east, to make their contributions.