Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the official launch of the "Go West" campaign, a programme aimed at stimulating the development in China's underdeveloped western regions.

The initiative, covering 12 interior provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, was hailed then as a timely and strategically important move to curb the China's widening regional disparity.

Enormous achievements have been scored since the campaign started.

The gross domestic product in the regions covered by the initiative grew year-on-year by 8.5, 8.8, 10, 11.3 per cent from 2000 to 2003, respectively, and the figure in 2004 is expected to hit 12 per cent. All of them were far ahead of the growth rate of 7.3 per cent recorded in 1999.

People's living standards in the west have also witnessed noticeable improvements.

In 2003, the disposable income of city dwellers and farmers in western regions was 7,205 yuan (US$868) and 1,966 yuan (US$237), increasing by 1,774 yuan (US$214) and 307 yuan (US$37) from that in 1999.

Yet the yawning regional gap, which prompted the central government to work out the "Go West" campaign in the first place, instead of narrowing, is still widening.

In 2003, the national average per capita disposable income of city dwellers and farmers was 8,472 yuan (US$1,024) and 2,622 yuan(US$317), showing people in western regions are still much less better-off than their peers in other parts of the country.

But this should not underestimate the big role the campaign has played in bridging the gap.

The western region's economic advancement after the "Go West" policy was adopted indicates that the policy did work to their favour.

The western regions could have lagged even further behind their coastal counterparts without the policy and fiscal support offered by the central government in the past five years.

The stark reality on the ground only shows that bridging the gap between inland and coastal areas will be nothing but a long-term undertaking, a task that demands both our patience and steeled resolve.

When taking on long-term undertakings, patience always runs thinner as time goes by with no substantial progress being made.

As the patience runs out, so will our momentum.

We should keep it in mind that the cause of western development is a long-term endeavour that needs our consistent devotion.

Another concern is that the western development initiative, launched with great fanfare, will gradually fade into oblivion.

The central government has, in the past two years, decided to embark on similar regional development schemes in other parts of the country.

The annual central economic work conference, which ended on November 29, made accelerating central China's development, a scheme coded "Central China's Emerging," one of the six major economic tasks this year.

Back in 2003, the Northeast Revitalization Plan was initiated to reinvigorate the country's rust belt.

It is worried that the western development programme would be drowned out and lose favour when the government diverts some of its attention to other parts.

To remove those worries, it may be of help to put regional development plans on a co-ordinated track, making them not as improvised but regular and consistent strategies.

A western development facilitation law, which has been put on the legislation agenda on the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, shows the government has noticed the need.

The huge regional disparity not only hinders national economic advancement but also threatens our very social stability, to which we always attach great importance.

As the country now emphasizes the importance of balanced development, the push to see the country's underdeveloped regions catch up with their coastal cousins is more urgent than before.

As such, the western regions should build on what they have achieved in the past five years and strive to make even greater strides in the years to come.

The past five years have only heralded the prelude to a strategically important endeavour that is just unfolding and one that may last for decades.