SHI ZHENGYI ON ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES AND DISPARITIES IN WESTERN CHINA MINORITY REGIONS

his paper aims to introduce Professor Shi Zhengyi’s theory that the minority regions in western China should develop faster to reduce the regional development disparities within China. Significant accomplishments have been achieved in the economic and social development of China’s ethnic minority regions since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. However, there is still a significant gap between the minority regions in western China and the developed regions regarding socio-economic growth. Professor Shi Zheng yi sug gested that the “accelerating development” policy needs to be upgraded as an “accelerating strategy” in western minority regions based on a thorough analysis of the actual socio-economic development situation in ethnic minority regions. He suggested elevating the “accelerating approach” to the status of “accelerating policy” in the western minority regions.