China's State Council has opened its office in charge of developing the country's west, and appointed Zeng Peiyan, minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission, to head the new establishment,.

In an interview Thursday, the minister said his office will focus on four tasks this year; the first is drafting a master plan for orderly growth.

He said regional governments in the west and related State Council departments have already begun the work, and based on their recommendations his office will create the master plan and submit it to the central authorities for approval by the end of the year.

The second job at hand is to work out a set of policies to create a good atmosphere for western development. Zeng stressed that attention should not only be given to fiscal, taxation, investment and price policies, but also to policies that would further promote the reforms, expand China's opening and push ahead with the overall progress of society.

"Priority must be given to the research of policies concerning science and technology development and the attraction of talent," he said.

The third task is to accelerate the construction of infrastructure in the west. Zeng said a larger proportion of the proceeds from the newly-issued treasury bonds this year will be spent on projects in the west.

He disclosed that the state will arrange 10 major projects in the west and speed up preparations for five major infrastructure projects there.

A total of 31 billion yuan will be spent to quicken the construction of 78 large and medium-sized projects, he said.

According to Zeng, the fourth job this year is to work hard to protect the environment during the construction.

He noted that while projects for the protection of natural forests will continue, the changing of farmland into forests and grassland will be tried this year to pool experience for further promotion.

The minister stressed the importance of overall planning, maintaining a scientific approach to the work and focusing efforts on priority areas in developing the west.