Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed further efforts to usher in a new stage in the development of China’s western region featuring well-coordinated environmental conservation, greater openness and high-quality development, when he chaired a symposium on boosting the development of China’s western region in the new era in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an inspection tour in Chongqing from Monday to Wednesday. During the visit, he called on Chongqing to further deepen reform and opening up across the board and write its own chapter in advancing Chinese modernization.
The remarks and the inspection tour highlighted the great importance the top leader attaches to the development of the western region, which covers more than 70 percent of China’s land area and is home to nearly 30 percent of the country’s population. The region plays a critical role in China’s pursuit of high-quality development and Chinese modernization, and holds great potential in various areas, economists said on Wednesday.
