China's 12th Five-year Plan highlights balanced development between regions, and local officials and businesses in western China are viewing it as a clear signal for them to get aboard.

Wang Zhengwei, chairman of the People's Government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, welcomes the strategy of "large-scale development of the western region" highlighted in China's 12th Five-year Plan. [By Wang Ke / China.org.cn]

NPC Deputy Wang Zhengwei, chairman of the Ningxia Hui autonomous regional government, is determined to seize this opportunity for his region.

"Premier Wen has urged China to implement new policies and measures over a new ten-year period in the west. Our time has come," Wang said.

"We are planning two approaches. One is to promote trade in Muslim products with the Arab world, the other is to boost trade in other products with Arabic countries," he said. "It's time for China's western regions to step up their international business."

About 36 percent of Ningxia's population belongs to the Muslim Hui ethnic group. The ancestors of the Huis migrated to China from Central and Western Asia.

"These natural connections are a solid foundation for economic cooperation between Ningxia and Arab countries," Wang said.

In 2010, Wang's government held the first China-Arab Economic and Trade Forum in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia. The forum will become an annual event promoting economic cooperation between China and Arab countries, comprising business meetings, trade shows, and an international halal food festival,.

Contracts worth US$30.38 billion were signed at the 2010 forum.