BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- President Jiang Zemin said Friday
that the central authorities will continue to support and help the
vast western region to seek fast development.
   Jiang said the central authorities are taking powerful measures
to push forward the implementation of the strategy to develop the
western region, and the western region should seize the good
opportunity to boost economic restructuring, fostering specialty
and advantageous industries, strengthening infrastructure and
ecological construction, and opening wider to the outside world.
   The president encouraged local cadres and the masses of people
in the west to work hard and rely on their own efforts to
accelerate development.
   Jiang urged that great attention must be paid to developing
education and science and technology, and personnel training,
which is of extreme importance in changing the outlook of west
China.
   Jiang made the remarks in a group discussion with NPC deputies,
who are attending the current session of the Ninth National People
's Congress (NPC), from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a
Muslim-inhabited region in northwest China.
   He stressed that it is imperative to unswervingly carry out the
Party's policies on nationalities and religion to unite closely
people of all nationalities.
   He called on officials at all levels to do solid work for the
interests of the broad masses of people in the western region. 
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