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西部地区作为我国发展的重要回旋余地，既是提升全国平均发展水平的巨大潜力地区，也是推进东西双向开放、构建全方位对外开放新格局的前沿。2020年5月，国务院发布《关于新时代推进西部大开发形成新格局的指导意见》，对新时代的西部大开发作出了重大决策部署。西部大开发战略实施至今，西部地区经济社会发展成效卓著，人民福祉不断增进，东中西三大地带相对差距不断缩小，然而，西部地区内部即西南地区与西北地区之间经济分化现象却日益凸显。解决好西部地区内部发展不平衡不充分的问题是顺应中国特色社会主义进入新时代、区域协调发展进入新阶段的新要求的应有之义，是推动西部地区加快形成大保护、大开放、高质量发展的新格局的关键所在，也是助力“全体人民共同富裕取得更为明显的实质性进展”远景目标实现的重要一环。

本文首先基于相关理论，从三个方面深入分析了收入差距影响经济增长的机制。其次，通过统计数据全方位梳理了西部地区与其他地区在经济发展、居民生活、公共服务、增长动力等方面的经济差距的演变过程，并展现了西部地区内部即西北地区与西南地区的差距变化。再次，运用双向固定效应模型作计量检验，得出如下结论：(1)城乡收入差距对西部地区的经济增长有显著负向影响，前者每扩大1个百分点，后者将降低0.6477个百分点；(2)城乡收入差距可以通过降低消费而对西部地区的经济增长产生负向影响；(3)收入差距对城、乡消费的影响有所不同，其中对农村地区消费的抑制作用更强；(4)城乡收入差距是导致西部地区内部经济增长不平衡的关键因素。最后，依据西部地区南北分化的特征事实分析、基准回归结果、影响机制和经济差距的分解结果，为进一步促进西部地区经济增长提出相应的对策建议。具体的对策建议为：以新发展理念为指导，推动经济高质量发展；完善收入分配制度，缩小城乡收入差距；拓宽居民增收渠道，提升农村居民消费水平；以共建“一带一路”为引领，扩大西部高水平开放；拓展区际互动合作，重视西北、西南地区联动发展。

As an important room for manoeuvre in our country's development, the western region is not only a region with great potential to improve the national average development level, but also a frontier for promoting two-way opening up from east to west and building a new pattern of all-round opening to the outside world. In May 2020, the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Western Region in the New Era to Form a New Pattern", making major decisions and deployments for the development of the western region in the new era. Now, the western development strategy has been implemented for 20 years. After 20 years of development, the economic strength of the western region has increased significantly, and the relative gap between the three major areas of east, central and west has been narrowing. However, the economic differentiation within the western region, that is, between the southwest region and the northwest region, has become increasingly prominent. Solving the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development in the western region is the proper meaning of meeting the new requirements that socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era and regional coordinated development has entered a new stage.It is the key to accelerating the formation of a new pattern of large-scale protection, large-scale opening up and high-quality development in the western region. It is also an important part of achieving the vision of “more tangible and substantial progress in achieving common prosperity for all” by 2035.

Firstly, based on relevant theories, this paper analyzes the mechanism of income gap affecting economic growth from three aspects. Secondly, the evolution process of the economic development between the western region and other regions in economic development, residents' life, public services, growth power and other aspects is comprehensively sorted out through the statistical data, and the change of the gap within the western region, namely the northwest region and the southwest region. Thirdly, the bidirectional fixed effect model is used for econometric test, and the following conclusions are drawn: (1)urban-rural income gap has a significant negative influence on the economic growth in western China, and the latter will decrease by 0.6477 percentage points when the former increases by 1 percentage point; (2) urban-rural income gap has a negative influence on the economic growth of western China by inhibiting the consumption of residents; (3) The impact of income gap on urban and rural consumption is different, and the inhibitory effect on rural consumption is stronger ; (4) urban-rural income gap is the key factor leading to the internal economic growth imbalance in western China. Finally, according to the characteristic fact analysis, the benchmark regression result, the influence mechanism and the decomposition result of the economic gap in the western region, the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are put forward to further promote the economic growth in the western region. The specific countermeasures are as follows: to promote high-quality economic development under the guidance of a new development philosophy; to improve the income distribution system and narrow urban-rural income gap; to broaden the channels for increasing income and consumption level of rural residents; to expand high-level opening up in the west under the guidance of jointly building the “Belt and Road”; to expand the interaction and cooperation between regions and attach importance to the interconnected development of the northwest and southwest regions.