ABSTRACT
The Group for Western Development (GWD) strategy was to maintain national stability, boost domestic demand and eliminate discontent within the western region. Despite the various shortcomings of the GWD strategy, Beijing has vowed to continue with this strategy and to renew its efforts to develop the western region for the next decade. The GWD strategy is key to efforts made by the central government to boost economic development in the western region and to narrow the widening regional disparity. The strategy is also important to local governments in the western regions in their quest for more capital investment and preferential policies from the central government. With better economic performance, the western region hopes to strengthen its bargaining power with the central authority, influence central policymaking and eventually improve its inferior status in the current regional development of China. The regional inequality between the eastern and western regions is still huge.
