hinese President Xi Jinping led a central delegation to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on September 23 to attend activities marking the 70th anniversary of the region’s founding. Xi told officials at a meeting in Xinjiang that the region should uphold the principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and make continuous efforts to build a socialist modern Xinjiang that is characterized by unity, harmony, prosperity, affluence, cultural progress and a sound eco-environment.
Located in far Northwest China, Xinjiang was the first provincial ethnic autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. In the seven decades since, Xinjiang has undergone a profound economic and social transformation, with regional GDP rocketing from 1.23 billion yuan (US$173.2m) in 1955 to 2.05 trillion yuan (US$288.7b) in 2024, with annual GDP growth at around 7 percent.
Four days before Xi’s visit to Xinjiang, China’s State Council published a white paper titled “CPC Guidelines for Governing Xinjiang in the New Era: Practice and Achievements.”
The white paper reveals that every year, more than 70 percent of Xinjiang’s general public budget is allocated to improving people’s well-being.
According to the white paper, Xinjiang eradicated absolute poverty in 2020. By the end of 2020, over 3.06 million impoverished rural residents, 3,666 impoverished villages and 35 impoverished counties had emerged from absolute poverty. Xinjiang’s per capita disposable annual income of urban residents soared 133-fold to 42,820 yuan (US$6,031) and 162-fold to 19,427 yuan (US$2,736) for rural residents in 2024, compared to the figures in 1978.
Xinjiang’s employed population has risen from 12.46 million in 2012 to 13.91 million in 2024, up 11.64 percent. All children now receive preschool education and free nine-year compulsory education, with the gross enrollment rate of senior high school hitting 97.74 percent.
By the end of 2024, the number of people covered under the basic pension and basic medical insurance systems in Xinjiang accounted for over 95 percent of the total population in their category, with average life expectancy increasing from 30 years in 1949 to 77 years in 2024. Also in 2024, about 12.5 percent of Xinjiang’s economy came from primary industries, 39.6 percent from secondary industries and 47.9 percent from tertiary industries.
As a vital link between China and the rest of the world throughout the Silk Road since ancient times, Xinjiang now occupies a strategic position in the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2024, 16,400 freight trains traveled through Xinjiang on the China-Europe Railway Express.
The number of Xinjiang’s economic and trade partners has increased significantly from a small handful in the 1950s to 196 countries and regions in 2012, and to 211 in 2024.
Xinjiang has become an extremely popular tourist destination with 302 million tourist arrivals in 2024, a 6.21- fold increase compared to that in 2012.
Ecological progress is remarkable too, as the Taklimakan Desert, the world’s second-largest drifting desert, is now encircled by a sand-blocking green belt stretching 3,046 kilometers, the longest in the world.
The white paper stresses that Xinjiang respects and protects ethnic minorities’ right to learn and use their own spoken and written languages and that Xinjiang administers religious affairs in accordance with the law. The document reveals that Xinjiang has formulated plans for the protection of regional cultural heritage and has released local regulations to strengthen legal guarantees for preserving cultural heritage.
According to the white paper, the central government provides special support for Xinjiang in terms of funds, projects, preferential policies, industry support and investments. Since 2012, the central government has allocated more than 4 trillion yuan (US$563.4b) in transfer payments to Xinjiang, including nearly 543.48 billion yuan (US$76.5b) in 2024 alone.
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