CHINA has identified five categories for inland regional development to close the yawning economic gap between the inland and the coastal areas.
Liu Xiaohua, a director general at the State Council Special Economic Zone Office, said China would open its 18 inland provinces and autonomous regions to the world over 15 years after its experiment with the coastal regions.
Under the proposal, five groups of inland regions would be given priority for future economic development, according to the latest China Daily's Business Weekly.
They were regional centres or capitals; cities with rich resources; areas with a strong industrial base; frontier or strategic cities; and sub-regional centres which served as gateways between provincial capitals and border cities.
Hubei's capital of Wuhan and Sichuan's fast-developing city of Chongqing fall under the third category - cities with strong support of state enterprises.
However, government funding would not necessarily be guaranteed.