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At a weekend working conference, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to unswervingly carry out the nation's western development strategy.

Western development, according to the premier, will continue to be one of the country's top work priorities.

The renewed efforts from the top levels of government spell out new and even greater development opportunities for western areas, and ensure brighter prospects for them.

Consistent support from the central government is badly needed in the western region, which consists of 11 provinces and autonomous regions as well as a municipality. The "go west" strategy, initiated in 2000, has contributed greatly in energizing the local economy and improving people's living standards.

The central government mapped out the ambitious strategy to tackle the ever-widening development gap between eastern and western areas.

Compared with coastal areas, disadvantages in the west are apparent owing to a poor economic foundation, which can be attributed to historical reasons and geographical factors. The west has lagged further behind since the late 1970s, when the coastal areas in the east were chosen as pioneers for the country's reform and opening up policies.

Over years of accumulation, the disparity has amounted to a dangerous level, which finally led to the "go west" programme, aimed at ensuring a healthy and sustainable development of the national economy as a whole, to ensure long-term stability of society, and most importantly, to solve the practical problems in western areas.

Balanced regional progress also caters to the goal of building a xiaokang, or a well-off society.

Accompanying the "go west" campaign have been large-scale investments from the central budget, lower tax rates and a series of other preferential policies, which have injected tremendous momentum for local economic development and social progress.

Among the significant infrastructure projects are the gigantic and technically challenging Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and the west-east natural gas pipeline project, starting from Tarim of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Shanghai.

The 3,900 kilometre-long pipeline cost 11.65 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) last year, and brought the total fulfilled investment to 21.6 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion).

The yearly growth of the gross domestic product in the west has climbed since 2000 and reached 8.5 per cent, 8.7 per cent, 9.9 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

The local ecological environment has also garnered more attention, thanks to programmes designated for forests and pastures.

Despite these achievements, however, western areas are still confronted with grave challenges in development, and they still have a long and rocky road ahead to catch up with their eastern counterparts.

With a total area of 6.85 million square kilometres and a population of 364 million, the average per capita GDP in the west is only about 40 per cent of the eastern areas. The infrastructure facilities are still poor, and the deteriorating ecological situation is far from being kept at bay. The investment environment there is less alluring for investors and attracting skilled professionals.

But hopefully, things will be different before long in the vast and resource-rich western areas with continued strengthened attention from the central authorities.