China's State Council, or the cabinet, has approved establishment of a state-level "new area," a type of Special Economic Zone, in northwestern Gansu Province, the fifth of its kind in the country.

Lanzhou New Area (LNA), located in Qinwangchuan Basin in the north of the provincial capital Lanzhou, will serve as an important industrial platform and growth engine to boost the economic development of China's northwest, said an official with the provincial city government on Wednesday.

According to the State Council's reply to the new area's establishment application issued on Aug. 20, LNA is expected to focus on strategic adjustment of economic structure and develop a circular economy and energy-saving industries with local characteristics, according to the official.

Covering an area of 806 square km, 100,000-population LNA has attracted 90 investment projects so far, with a total volume of 70.7 billion yuan (11.13 billion US dollars), according to statistics released by its management committee.

China currently has four state-level new areas including Shanghai's Pudong New Area, Tianjin's Binhai New Area, Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area and Zhoushan Islands New Area in Zhejiang Province.