On frosty Sunday morning, Wang Jinjian joined residents of Huocheng County in far west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to clear streets blanketed by heavy snow.

Wang, who just arrived in Huocheng two weeks ago after being appointed the head of the county committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), wanted to get acquainted with local people as soon as possible.

"I will work here in the next five years," said Wang, who came from Jiangyin City of economically-developed Jiangsu Province in the east. "I wish my hometown's experiences in socioeconomic development could help boost the development of Huocheng."

Wang is among thousands of cadres and experts who were being dispatched by the central government to Xinjiang to assist local development by using their expertise and successful experience in the east.

This marked a new round of China's efforts to narrow the development gap between the west and the east.

In 2010, besides increasing capital investment and policy support, the central government decided to begin a new round of assistance to Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang by pairing relatively developed provinces and cities with the two regions.

A series of decisions were announced after the CPC Central Committee held conferences on the development of West China, Tibet and Xinjiang this year.

Observers said the three meetings were milestones in working out the plan for narrowing the east-west gap as the western region is a difficult but key point in building a well-off society in a comprehensive way.

The government is aimed at narrowing the gap between east and west in the next decade, with western regions making great progress in comprehensive economic strength, people's living standards and environmental protection.