The number of undergraduate and graduate students in western China rose by about 40 percent from 2007 to 2012, an official with the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Friday.

Zhang Daliang, director of the MOE'S Department of Higher Education, told Xinhua that the number of undergraduates enrolled in western China's colleges and universities hit 6,515,000 from 2007 to 2012, while graduate students totalled 360,000 in the same period, up 40.29 percent and 44.93 percent, respectively.

The region covers about 70 percent of China and is rich in resources, but for historical reasons, its development lags behind that of the country's eastern coastal areas.

Since 2007, school conditions have also improved, according to Zhang, as the central government offers preferential policies for students applying for scholarships and in the construction of science labs.

Moreover, faculty there have been boosted in both quality and quantity, with about 80,000 teachers and 19 academicians joining the region's universities since 2007.

"China's education budget has been leaning toward the western regions, and we will strive to bring the overall level of higher education in the western regions close to the national average," said Zhang.