Abstract: The focal points of promoting regional coordinated development lie in the “outward orientation of inland regions” and the “internationalization of western regions.” These elements constitute pivotal components of the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative and represent an imperative choice for achieving transformative development in border regions. The principal challenges impeding the progress of central and western regions revolve around “factor poverty” and the “scarcity of mobile resources.” The foundational strategy for addressing these challenges involves the application of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This encompasses the formulation and execution of a novel strategy for external opening-up, employing comprehensive approaches such as airspace opening, border opening, route opening, and network opening. These initiatives aim to stimulate regional integration, assimilate into both domestic and international cycles, convert abundant local natural resources into economic assets and production factors, aggregate mobile resources, propel wealth creation, facilitate overall regional development, and foster the construction of a distinctive Chinese-style modernization.

Keywords: Belt and Road; reform and opening-up; development strategy of central and western regions; border opening; Chinese internationalization

Reprinted from Guangxi Economic Journal, 2024,42(01):7-14.