Of course, some disparity in growth is bound to exist in a country as vast as China. I do not believe the western provinces can ever be as prosperous and advanced as the coastal and riverine provinces. Take the United States. The East Coast and the West Coast are more populous and prosperous than the inland, with the exception of Chicago. But Chicago has the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, so ships can sail in. The geographic advantages of being near the sea cannot be fully overcome. In China, furthermore, some western provinces are not just far from the sea, they also contain
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