As China's mining industry develops main minerals production in the west maintains constant growth. In 2004 coal output in the west reached 536.814 million tons, 2.24 times that of 2000. The west turned out 40.719 million tons crude oil, accounting for 23.27 percent of the national total and growing by nearly 5 percentage points in four years. Steel production in west China also increased its proportion from 16.4 percent in 2000 to 18 percent.

Zhu Xun, chairman of China Mining Association, said at an international forum on exploiting non-ferrous metals that China's western regions are not only rich in mineral resources but many are inadequately surveyed. It is calculated that the potential value of confirmed reserves per square kilometers land in the west is 8.7615 yuan, only about 85.4 percent of the national average and 64.34 percent of that in the central regions.

By People's Daily Online