China to Accelerate Opening Up of Its West RegionsChina will accelerate opening up of its west regions to meet the new challenge from economic globalization and China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).At an international symposium on development of western part of China opened Thursday, Wei Jianguo, assistant minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that China's opening up will enter a new stage with China's impending access to WTO and the condition for accelerating the opening up of west China regions is mature. Wei said that promoting foreign trade and economic cooperation in west China constituted a strategic part of China's goal to become a strong external trade nation in the coming century. He said that China will adopt more flexible policies to absorb foreign funds. China sets great store by international organizations' role in the development of its west and it is determined to encourage international aid to go to the west. The west China regions are advantageous in opening up, for there are rich natural resources such as energy, mineral resources, tourism and land resources there, Wei said, adding that with sound development, China's west can become a large market with great demands. Based on the experiences of the development of China's eastern coastal areas and with the support of the central government and the people all over the country, the opening up of China's west will make remarkable progress. He said that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation has organized several investigation groups to go to the provinces and autonomous regions in the west so that the ministry will formulate specific policies to promote the opening up of the west. |
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