Western China ( zh, s=中国西部, l=, labels=no or zh, s=华西, l=, labels=no) is the west of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It consists of
Southwestern China and
Northwestern China. In the definition of the
Chinese government, Western China covers six
provinces
A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
(
Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
,
Guizhou
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_map = Guizhou in China (+all claims hatched).svg
, mapsize = 275px
, map_alt = Map showing the location of Guizhou Province
, map_caption = Map s ...
,
Yunnan
Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
,
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
, and
Qinghai
Qinghai is an inland Provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. It is the largest provinces of China, province of China (excluding autonomous regions) by area and has the third smallest population. Its capital and largest city is Xin ...
), three
autonomous regions (
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
,
Ningxia, and
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
), and one
direct-administered municipality
A direct-administered municipality ( zh, s=直辖市, p=Zhíxiáshì, labels=no, l=; ; commonly known as municipality) is a provincial-level administrative division in China. The municipalities are directly affiliated to the State Council of ...
(
Chongqing
ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...
).
Urbanization
As part of the
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
administration's goal to
urbanize 250 million citizens by 2025 as the first phase of a long-term green modernization plan, China seeks to resettle formerly rural people in provincial capitals, prefectural cities, and county-level towns in western China (as well as
central China).
Administrative divisions
Cities with urban area over one million in population
Provincial capitals in bold.
Policies
China's current development policy for its western regions is laid out in the ''Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Development of the West in the New Era and Forming a New Pattern''.
This policy seeks to improve key industries and national development, particularly in aircraft manufacturing.
Infrastructure developed through the Belt and Road Initiative has helped to reduce the imbalance between western China and the country's more developed eastern region.
See also
*
China Western Development
*
Northwestern China
*
Southwestern China
*
West China Union College
*
West China Union University
;Other regions
*
East China
East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, ...
*
North China
North China () is a list of regions of China, geographical region of the People's Republic of China, consisting of five province-level divisions of China, provincial-level administrative divisions, namely the direct-administered municipalities ...
*
Northeast China
Northeast China () is a geographical region of China, consisting officially of three provinces Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. The heartland of the region is the Northeast China Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of over . The regi ...
*
Northern and southern China
*
South Central China
South Central China, South-Central China or Central-South China ( zh, c = 中南, p = Zhōngnán, l = Central-South), is a List of regions of China, region of China. It consists of eight provincial administrative regions, namely Henan, Hubei, ...
References
{{Authority control
Regions of China
Inner Asia