Deputies to the nation's top legislative body from West China on Friday echoed Premier Zhu Rongji's call to aggressively push forward the development of their region, vowing to improve environmental protection and further open to the outside world.

Zhang Zhiyin, National People's Congress (NPC) deputy and mayor of Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province, said he welcomed the importance attached to environmental protection in the central government's western development strategy, which began three years ago.

Zhang said "this is vital for the vast western regions in China, especially Northwest China, a region with a comparatively fragile environment.''

Wang Lequan, NPC deputy and Party Secretary of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said over the past three years local government and local residents had agreed that development must not be detrimental to the environment.

Wang pointed out that commercial deforestation was now strictly forbidden in the autonomous region's Tianshan and Altay Mountains, where almost 400,000 square metres of virgin forests used to be felled annually.

The afforestation rate in Xinjiang has increased by 0.6 per cent during the past five years, Wang noted.

"The afforestation rate, which stands at 1.9 per cent, is of course still comparatively low. But, considering that Xinjiang has two deserts and large mountainous areas, these achievements are notable,'' said Wang.

In his government work report to the NPC, Premier Zhu Rongji called for efforts to "effectively turn reclaimed lands into forests, protect natural forests and prevent further desertification.''

He also said there should be a greater effort to prevent the unauthorized transfer of obsolete industrial equipment and polluting factories to the western regions.

Shokrat Zakir, mayor of Urumqi, said the city aims to building itself into a modern Central Asian commercial hub.

Bordering eight countries, including Russia and Mongolia, Xinjiang has 16 border crossings.

The mayor, also a deputy to the NPC, has suggested at the ongoing legislative session that Urumqi airport should be turned into a main transportation hub connecting China and Europe.

(China Daily)