Can the Resource Curse Hypothesis Explain Regional Disparities?

Apparently it does, at least that's Ms. Li's explanation for regional disparities within China. In a nutshell she argues that the reason why the western regions of China are poorer is because they have been resource-reliant economies.

Although this fact might explain to certain degree why these regions are poorer, perhaps one should not forget that the richest regions of the east, that are not so well natural-resource endowed, have a much better location for when it comes to international trade, i.e. they are closer to the coast.

If we consider that we are living in the "ocean age", according to Liang Qichao's historical ages, in which trade is mainly maritime, maybe this locational fact is as or even more important for determining regional development disparities within a country than resource endowments.