BEIJING -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is gearing up its efforts to become a "core area" of the Silk Road Economic Belt, a senior official said Tuesday.

Located in the center of Asia, Xinjiang played a role as a "bridgehead" in China's westward opening, said Zhang Chunxian, Communist Party of China chief of Xinjiang, who was attending an annual session of the country's top legislature in Beijing. "East to the region, is about 1.3 billion domestic population, while in its west, is almost the same number of foreign population."

The region would strive to become a center of communications, trade, culture, finance and medical care along the Silk Road economic belt, he said.