Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

As China shifts up a gear in the development of the western region, the upcoming Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), an important platform for global companies looking to gain a foothold in the country, may be a window through which foreign firms can observe what opportunities China's accelerated development can bring to the world.

A symposium was held in April where top Chinese policymakers stressed further efforts to usher in a new stage in the development of China's western region featuring well-coordinated environmental conservation, greater openness and high-quality development. 

The symposium further shed light on the great importance Chinese top policymakers attach to the development of China's western region, and it also underscored the vast potential of the region in pursuing high-quality development and embracing greater openness.

This year's WCIFIT, which is scheduled to be held in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from May 23 to 26, will be the first expo since April's symposium, and it will thus help the outside world observe what is happening in China's western region.

This year's theme is "New Western China, New Manufacturing, New Services." Experts predict that manufacturing and the productive services industries will also be the key areas for development in China's western region.

Zhang Yongwu, director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce was quoted by the International Business Daily as saying that this year's WCIFIT will focus on productive services, which refer to the industries that directly or indirectly serve production activities. It highlights the local government's determination to develop high-end manufacturing to promote industrialization, urbanization and modernization to achieve steady and fast economic development.

China's vast western region, which covers more than 70 percent of the country's landmass, has enormous potential in terms of economic development. The urbanization and industrialization of the region will not only inject new impetus into the country's high-quality development, but will also promote greater openness in the country's manufacturing and productive services industries.

In recent years, migration of the manufacturing sector from eastern coastal areas to the western region has gained momentum. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the nation established a comprehensive industrial system in the western region. In recent decades, especially after China kick-started reform and opening-up in 1978, China's eastern coastal areas have developed faster than the western region, but the latter has a good industrial foundation.

China's efforts to accelerate the development of the western region and build a modern industrial system with international competitiveness in the region will make more investment opportunities available to private capital and the market.

Recently, the US-advocated "decoupling" and Washington's geopolitical games have brought enormous challenges to global trade. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has been a key target of US attacks. However, despite Western smears and malicious crackdowns, the region has entered the fast lane of development.

Multinational enterprises should actively participate in the development of China's western region, explore trade and investment opportunities, and share the dividends of China's economic growth. In this regard, the upcoming WCIFIT provides a platform for cooperation.

Along with the development of the western region, China's opening-up to and cooperation with the outside world have ushered in new opportunities. For instance, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the first in China's northwestern border regions, officially started operations in 2023. It is believed more preferential policies will be introduced in the future.

It is hoped that foreign companies, especially Western enterprises, can participate more actively in China's westward opening-up and its efforts to upgrade its manufacturing industry.

There is no need to deny that the US, at least in the short term, will likely remain an important final consumer market. However, with China's westward opening-up strategy, supply chain restructuring has been accelerated. China's trade and economic cooperation with Central Asian countries has been on a fast lane in recent years. This means China and Central Asian countries are increasingly important final consumer markets for each other. Enterprises doing business in China's western region should adjust and adapt to new changes in the supply chains.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn