Steel, energy and agriculture are the sectors the city of Panzhihua is hoping to build up under the nation's ongoing western development strategy.

The city, located in Sichuan Province, Southwest China, is aiming to achieve an annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of around 10 per cent in the next decade, said Mayor Zhang Chengming.

Panzhihua, located at the intersection of the Jinsha and Yalong rivers in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, is a migrant city built 35 years ago with the construction of the Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Co.

With an initial investment of 3 billion yuan (US$360 million) from the central government in the 1960s, Panzhihua is now the largest steel producer in western China and ranks first in the production of vanadium and titanium. Its vanadium products take up more than 80 per cent of the domestic market and 15 per cent of the international market.

The Ertan Hydropower Station, the country's largest, is located on the Yalong River in the Panxi Grand Rift Valley. The station is expected to have a combined capacity of 3.3 million kilowatts and produce 17 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually by the end of the year.

The valley also has a reserve of more than 150 million tons of graphite, 100 million tons of granite and other rare minerals, such as chromium, nickel and manganese.

The city's unique location has aroused attention from Chinese leaders carrying out the western development strategy, Zhang said.

Thirty-five years ago, the valley was designated by the central government as a key area for industrial development in the west.

Covering an area of more than 10,000 square kilometres, the valley is expected to become a new energy hub in western China, he said.

Due to its rich mineral resources, Panzhihua is one of the richest cities in western China with its per capita GDP registering 10,700 yuan (US$1,290).

In addition to its booming industrial development, Panzhhua also has great potential for agricultural development, say experts.

With abundant sunshine and rainfall, the city has ideal conditions for fruit growing. Fruits and vegetables ripen one to three months faster in the area than in other places.

Its important cash crops - watermelons, lychees, longans, mangoes and nuts - are free from plant diseases and damage brought about by typhoons which plauge South China's Guangdong Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Hainan Province, Zhang said.

Infrastructural construction is also a key aspect of the western development strategy.

Panzhihua turns out about 4.1 million tons of iron and 3.6 million tons of steel annually.

The city's rich vanadium and titanium resources are expected to win high economic benefits when infrastructural construction begins in full swing. The Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Corp is one of the world's three largest vanadium producers, Zhang said.

Electricity generated in the Ertan Hydropower Station is currently supplied to North China. Panzhihua also plans to transmit its surplus power to eastern parts of the country in the future.

Panzhihua can also take advantage of its rich power supply and rich mineral resources to develop energy-consuming industries, which are impossible elsewhere, he said.