CHENGDU, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that China had made great achievements in developing its western region in the last 10 years and it would unswervingly stick to the West Development Strategy adopted in 2000.

    Wen also said the government was willing to continue cooperating with other economies in promoting the development.

    Wen made the remarks in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Tenth Western China International Economy and Trade Fair and the Second West China International Cooperation Forum in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province

 "Since last year, China's western regions have suffered the double blow of a big natural disaster and the global economic crisis. In a basket of measures to cope with the economic crisis, China continues unswervingly to push forward with the West Development Strategy," he said.

    More than 43 percent of investment allocated by the central government to expand domestic demand and fight the financial crisis has been used for projects to improve living standards, infrastructure projects, post-disaster reconstruction and technological innovation in western regions, he said.

    In the wake of the financial crisis, China rolled out an economic stimulus package, featuring a 4 trillion yuan investment plan in 2009 and 2010 to finance massive projects nationwide.

    In the first half, total gross domestic product in the western regions achieved an annualized growth rate of 11.8 percent, he added. Nationally, the economy expanded 7.1 percent over the same period.

    The five-day fair, also known as West China Expo, is co-sponsored by departments of the central government and 12 western provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

    The Strategy is a policy adopted by the Chinese government in January 2000 to help underdeveloped western region catch up with the more prosperous eastern region.

    The 12 western provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have a combined population of about 370 million. They include Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi provinces, which were badly hit by the8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 last year.

    In the last 10 years, the central government had financed more than 3.5 trillion yuan (512.4 billion U.S. dollars) to support development of the western region, Wen said.

    This year alone, China planned to invest 468.9 billion yuan in projects to boost development of the western region, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Monday.

    During the nine years from 2000 to 2008, GDP of the western region jumped from 1.66 trillion yuan to 5.82 trillion yuan, at an annual average growth rate of 11.7 percent, said Wen.

    More than 9.54 million rural residents had been lifted from poverty in the western region since 1999, and the country would mark the 10th anniversary of the strategy next January, he said.

    The government was outlining new policies to support the West Development Strategy in the next 10 years.

    Wen presented a four-point proposal for more cooperation in the future with 14 countries neighboring the western region in such sectors as energy and transportation, trade and investment as well as energy saving and environmental protection.