Six years after launching an ambitious program to develop its western region, China has seen the efforts pay off, at least economically.

Huge financial and policy supports have made the economy of the vast western regions move closer to the lead of the east coast. Traditionally they are the nation's two economic poles, with the west lagging far behind.

Last year the economic growth rate of the 12 western regions was only 0.6 of a percentage point below the national level, while the gap was as high as 2.7 percentage points during the 1996-2000 period.

Economy aside, the western environment is improving thanks to large-scale reforestation.

But it is far too soon to be complacent over these accomplishments.

The coming years may prove to be the most crucial period for the western regions to sustain themselves, if not catch up with their far more prosperous coastal counterparts.

The shortage of a high caliber workforce remains the bottleneck of the western regions. Many local professionals have moved to the east and new local college graduates want to leave.

This augurs ill for the long-term prospects of these regions since few places have made major progress without talented human resources.

In this sense, how to help the western regions recruit qualified professionals and retain them may largely shape their future.

The western regions are also fettered by their heavy dependence on energy-related industries, sapping local economic vitality. And the private economy, which has fostered the eastern economic boom, is yet to grow strong enough to improve the western economic landscape.

Those structural weaknesses are what the national policymakers are going to tackle in the blueprint for the development of the regions in the current Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

Taking on the human resource challenge will be crucial for sustaining success in our long-term drive to build the western provinces.

(China Daily 03/02/2007 page10)