Economists Predict Narrower East-West Economic GapThe Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a government think tank, predicted on June 11 that the disparity in east and west China's economic development will be substantially narrowed by the year 2030.In a report released on June 11 by the Institute of Econometrics and Techno-economics under the CASS, economists predict that the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in China western areas would reach 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. dollars between 2020 and 2030. In the coming 30 years, the report said, dramatic changes will sweep China's vast western areas: infrastructure for industry, education and information transmission will be perfected; rational urban planning will give rise to a network of closely and conveniently linked cities; the current manufacturing industry that is heavily dependent on natural resources will be transformed into a technology-intensive one; and modern farming and forestry will be take shape. In the next ten years, the government will focus on creating favorable environment for economic take-off in the vast western region, which will help reverse the widening disparity between the east and the west in economic development, the report said. With the implementation of the government-initiated strategy of prospering the west, poverty will be eliminated between 2006 and 2010 in China's west, which will also see restored ecological environment, accelerated urbanization, and narrowing per capita income gap between the east and the west, the report said. By the year 2010, per capita GDP in western China is expected to reach US$1,200 to US$1,500, laying a solid foundation for accelerated growth in the next 30 years, the report said. |
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