Northwest China's Gansu Province will enhance its energy cooperation with Central Asian countries in an effort to promote the economy of the less-developed West China and the building of the Silk Road economic belt.

With rich energy resources, Gansu will rely on its competitive industries like oil processing and new energy like solar and wind power to cooperate with countries along the Silk Road, said Zhang Shengzhen, secretary-general of Gansu government on Saturday.

The Silk Road economic belt, a concept proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 during his trip to Central Asian countries, encourages regional economic development in an area where nations have been culturally and economically connected since China's Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Meng Kai, head of the provincial energy bureau, said that Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, though still in the initial stages of developing new energy, have rich new energy resources like wind power and solar energy. Local governments have been supportive, according to their preliminary research on Central Asia, so it is a good time for mature enterprises in Gansu to step in.

For example, the price for civilian use of electricity generated by wind power or solar energy is around 30 percent cheaper in Gansu than in Kazakhstan. "There is a great potential for Gansu enterprises to develop in those countries," said Meng.

Zhang revealed that Gansu is building a new energy base with over 35 projects and an investment of 15.5 billion yuan ($2.49 billion) in the city of Zhangye. The base is set to be completed within this year.

Meanwhile, provincial authorities admitted that the current international trade volume of Gansu is unsatisfactory. The 2013 trade volume of Gansu is around $10 billion.

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