Development of western region faces new historic opportunities

China's vast western region, which covers 12 provincial-level regions and accounts for 21.5 percent of the country's GDP, is vital to the country's overall development.

At a symposium held in Chongqing on Tuesday for promoting the development of the western region, the top leader said that the region plays an important role in China's reform, development and stability, and should improve its overall strength and sustainable development capacity and contribute to the country's modernization drive.

The western region has so far built nine national strategic emerging industrial clusters on new materials and biomedics and five national advanced manufacturing clusters on electronic information and aviation, with its industrial added value increasing from 5.8 trillion yuan ($800.5 billion) in 2019 to 8.1 trillion yuan in 2023.