西部大开发

Western Development

A drive launched by the central government in 2000 to promote social and economic progress in the central and western parts of the country, which are relatively less developed than the rest of the country.

By injecting financial aid and offering favorable policies, the State wants to speed up infrastructure construction, industrialization and poverty eradication in these areas. Officials, technicians and other qualified talents have been dispatched from the eastern regions to lend a hand.

The campaign covers nearly 400 million people living in Chongqing Municipality, Sichuan Province, Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, the Tibet Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.