The development of China's western regions was for a long time hampered by the difficult terrain of the area and its distance from the sea and hence maritime commerce. However China now has the fiscal wherewithal to invest in modern transportation technology and build railways and roads to link its west to the oceans. These networks will bring an acceleration of rates of development in the west to bring it more nearly in line with the east, and are a manifestation of China's economic rise. A second dimension is that the new lines of transportation will be bearers of Chinese influence to Central, South-west and South Asia. Trade flows and inter-dependencies will develop, and China's role in the regions to its west and south-west will increase.