Go West Campaign

        In June, 1999, China began its "Go West Campaign" . A coordinated development between the population, resources, environment, and economy and society is to be achieved by steps through inputs of domestic and overseas capital as well as technical personnel.

        The western part of China covers an area of 5.4 million square meters with a population of over 280 million, making up 56 percent and 23 percent of the national total respectively. The region used to be described as "barren, remote, poor, large, valuable and beautiful." It lacks transportation facilities, and lags behind other parts of the country in terms of economic and social development. The GNP per capita there accounts for just half of the average national level. But the west boasts vast stretches of land, abundant resources and beautiful scenery.

        The west area includes the following:

        Sichuan, in China's western hinterland, covers most of the Sichuan Basin. Surrounded by mountains, it enjoys a mild climate. Sichuan covers a vast area of 485,000 square km, accounting for 5.1 percent of China's total area.

        Located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in southwest China, bordering provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Shaanxi, Chongqing has a total area of 82,400 square km.

        Yunnan is known as Yun or Dian for short. It is the most southwestern province in China, with the Tropic of Cancer running through its southern part. The province has an area of 394,000 square km, or 4.1 percent of the nation's total. The province borders the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guizhou Province in the east, Sichuan Province in the north, and Tibet Autonomous Region in the northwest. It shares a border of 4,060 km with Myanmar in the west, Laos in the south, and Vietnam in the southeast.

        Guizhou is situated on the eastern part of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southwest China. Its total area is 170,000 square kilometers. On this land of towering mountains and deep valleys, there are over 300 basins which are wide in the middle and narrow in both ends and each covers over 160 hectares. The average annual temperature is between 14 and 16oC. Ethnic groups: Han, Miao, Buyi, Dong, Tujia, Yi, Gelao, Shui, Hui, Bai, Yao, Zhuang, Maonan, Mongol, Mulao, Qiang and Man

        Located in south China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is a coastal province. It occupies a land of 236,700 square km, accounting for 2.5 percent of the nation's total and ranking ninth among all the provinces. Situated in the southeast ring of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the highest point of Guangxi stands at 2,141 above sea level.

        An inland province along the middle reaches of the Yellow River and a gateway to northwest China, Shanxi links the west with the east and connects the north with the south. It borders Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan and Gansu. The province has an area of 205,600 square kilometers. It measures 1,000 kilometers from north to south and 360 kilometers from west to east.

        Lying in China's western inland area, on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, Gansu Province borders Shanxi Province in the east, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the northeast, Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the west, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the People's Republic of Mongolia in the north.

        The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, which is called Ning for short, is located in northwest China, on the upper reaches of the Huanghe River. One of China's five autonomous regions inhabited by the minority groups, it borders Shanxi Province in the east, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north, and Gansu Province in the south.

        The province lies on the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in west China, bordering Gansu and Sichuan provinces, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region. As the origin of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang rivers, Qinghai has an area of 720,000 square kilometers, the fourth largest in China. Its territory includes 3.86 million hectares of grassland, 590,000 hectares of cultivated land and 266,000 hectares of forest.

        Lying in northwestern China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, also called Xin for short, was referred to as the Western Region in ancient times. It has an area of 1.66 million square kilometers, roughly about one-sixth of the total territory of China. Xinjiang is the largest and has the longest boundary line among China's provinces and autonomous regions. It shares 5,600 kilometers of frontier with Mongolia in the northeast; Russia, Kazakhstan, Kirghiszstan, and Tadzhikistan in the west; and Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in the southwest.

        Situated on China's northern frontier, Inner Mongolia is a major stockbreeding center known for its Sanhe Horses, Sanhe Oxen and fine wool sheep.

        Tibet adjoins Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region and the province of Qinghai in the north, Sichuan in the east, Yunnan in the southeast, and such countries and regions as Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal in the south and west along an international border of nearly 4,000 km. The 1.22-million-square-km autonomous region accounts for 12.8 percent of China's total land area.

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