Premier Wen Jiabao Tuesday called for an enhanced resolve and intensified efforts to continuously push forward the large-scale development of the country's western regions.

Speaking at the first meeting of the newly-elected State Council's western development leadership team in Beijing, Wen, who is also the team leader, said the work in this area is of great and far-reaching significance for accelerating the development of China's socialist modernization and will continue to be the central government's priority.

The major campaign to develop the west was launched in March 2000 and covers Chongqing Municipality, the Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Guangxi Zhuang, Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions and Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shannxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

The meeting reviewed the achievements that have been made on western development work in the past years and said environmental protection and economic construction in the region has exhibited a dynamic new look.

Wen urged government officials, especially those in the western regions, whose performance largely decides the success of the campaign, to enhance the awareness of the importance of the work and to further explore the innovative ways of promoting the region's economic development.

Wen said China's development strategy for its western region would continue to focus on protection of the ecological environment and infrastructure construction in 2003.

He said areas of farmland in western regions would be returned to grassland and forest use. He also urged the local officials to speed up the construction of small-scale infrastructure in the rural areas.

Other efforts that directed at developing science, technology and education, enhancing the basic position of agriculture while developing industries that exploit local conditions and transforming resource advantages into economic advantages are also high on the work agenda.

Wen required officials at various levels to reinforce the leadership on organizing the western development work and to strengthen the investigation and research on the important measures that would be carried out so as to keep the stability and continuity of this campaign.

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