The State Council has approved the development plan for the Hohhot-Baotou-Ordos-Yulin urban cluster, according to a circular released on Feb 12.

Hohhot, Baotou and Ordos are in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, while Yulin belongs to Shaanxi province in Northwest China.

The central government encourages these cities to create a coordinated development mechanism, in which different industries develop in a balanced way and infrastructure connects various areas.

In addition, population and economy aggregation should be enhanced to foster the urban cluster into an influential region in central and western China, according to the document.

Provincial governments of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Shaanxi are urged to enhance their leadership to guarantee the timely completion of the task.

Specific policies and measures still need to be rolled out, which will be formulated by related authorities of the State Council. The National Development and Reform Commission will track, analyze and oversee the implementation of the plan.