Xinjiang’s Overwhelming Success over the Past 70 Years

With persistent and unswerving effort, China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is now the embodiment of all-embracing success. Credit goes to the Communist Party of China (CPC) leadership that has made this happen.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Located in northwest China, the region is home to more than 26 million people from dozens of ethnic groups.

Having overcome challenges especially poverty, backwardness and Western fake narrative campaign, Xinjiang is now presenting a scene of diversified development, with new high-quality productivity, micro- and macro-economy, art, culture, faith and social values that meet the needs of all social fabric and ethnicity.

Xinjiang’s enormous change

Big shoutout for the central and local governments of China for channelizing a slew of resources to make Xinjiang a powerhouse of international trade, logistic & economic corridor and resounding hub of new era agricultural, industrial and infrastructure development.

In the past, the streets were jammed with donkey carts in Hotan who used to work in Hotan Prefecture in southern Xinjiang. Today, donkey carts belong to museums. Families get around on e-bikes, motorcycles or cars, and many families have cars. Households also own more washing machines, refrigerators and computers than they did in 2012, according to a white paper issued by Chinese government recently.

Xinjiang was once among the most impoverished regions in China. Thanks to a nationwide poverty-reduction campaign launched in 2012, all 3.06 million rural residents living in poverty in the region had been lifted out of poverty by the end of 2020.

Today, every village in Xinjiang has access to licensed medical professionals, and the region’s life expectancy has reached 77 years, compared with a mere 30 years before 1949 due to rampant infectious diseases and medical resource shortages.

Xinjiang Software Park seems as a bridge connecting China and abroad for cultural and economic exchanges.

Situated on the China-Kazakhstan border, Horgos Port and Alashankou Port, also known as Alataw Pass, are Xinjiang’s two primary rail gateways. Both ports’ success stories tell us how Xinjiang’s cargo infrastructure is forging ahead with flying colors.

Horgos Port has handled over 7,000 China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips since the beginning of this year 2025.  The railway port processes freight train trips along 90 operational routes linking 46 cities and regions across 18 countries. The Xinjiang port is the mainstay of the China-Europe (Central Asia) freight train service that shipped more than 220,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of finished automobiles in 2024.

With determination and hard work, Xinjiang is advancing modernization in step with the rest of the country. Economic development speaks for itself. From just 1.23 billion yuan ($173.1 million) in 1955, Xinjiang’s GDP reached over 2 trillion yuan by 2024. Notably, from 2012 to 2024, Xinjiang’s GDP grew at an annual rate of 7 percent at constant prices – significantly outpacing the national average.

In Xinjiang, basic education has become popularized with higher quality. Since 2012, 47.9 billion yuan in fiscal education funding has been invested to improve the facilities of primary and secondary schools in Xinjiang. Today, there is one kindergarten for every 106 children in Xinjiang, and one primary school for every 817 students.

Significant progress has also been made in combating desertification. The Taklimakan Desert is now encircled by a sand-blocking green belt stretching 3,046 kilometers – the longest in the world.

And the region’s total oasis area has expanded by 56.6 percent over the past three decades, according to the white paper.

People plant economic crops such as red dates in the desert, which both prevent sand encroachment and increase their incomes. The people of Xinjiang are genuinely reaping the benefits of ecological conservation.

Today, Xinjiang has made a turnaround. Four cross-desert highways have reduced north-south transit distances by 300-500 kilo meters, while the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway’s completion forged the world’s first circular desert rail network, establishing visible benefits to local communities.

Green belts along the Taklimakan Desert’s periphery have been expanded. The region’s ecological governance success was marked by the completion of a 3,046-kilometer ecological barrier in 2024, effectively curbing desertification.

Seeing is believing

Before setting foot in Xinjiang, one of the media delegations of which I was a member in 2024 was under the influence of Western deceptive narratives that ethnic minorities are subject to injustices.

Frankly speaking, most of visitors used to enter China as sceptic. However, as they start visiting places, interacting with people and talking to the local minorities, it becomes clear that Western narratives were nothing more than mythical and fictional dramas that had nothing to do with reality.

Seeing is believing. Hence, myths pertaining to discrimination against ethnic minorities in China were proven to be complete fabrications. Delegates visited minority groups living in the modern village of Chabuchar county in Yining, Xinjiang. Seeing the living standards, bustling life, school education, civic amenities, surrounding ambience, well-furnished homes and livelihood, all their questions and doubts were answered.

I witnessed how the local governments made it possible for them to set up new businesses to improve their income. Each shop in the village makes between 10,000 yuan ($1,405) to 15,000 yuan. Besides ancestral occupation of animal husbandry, minority youth have been securing jobs in nearby factories in economic zones. Some have also joined the agriculture profession, carrying on the family line of business.

The legal rights and interests of the people in Xinjiang have been effectively protected. All ethnic groups, regardless of their population size, have equal legal status and enjoy freedom of religious belief and various rights in accordance with the law. These rights include participation in state affairs, access to education, use of their own languages and preservation of their traditional culture. Additionally, the Xinjiang government has made great efforts to improve the prosperity of all people. Remarkable achievements have been made in eliminating extreme poverty.

Xinjiang is succeeding in all directions. Thanks to the enforcement of the rule of law by the Chinese government for increasing footprints of progress and development in Xinjiang.

Following the overarching goal of ensuring lasting social stability, Xinjiang stays committed to exercising law-based governance, promoting ethnic unity, strengthening cultural identity and bonds, and bringing greater prosperity to the region and its people.

Moreover, the local governments have addressed challenges in areas such as elderly care, education, employment and public housing, ensuring development achievements benefit all ethnic groups.

Opening-up to the world is another defining feature of Xinjiang. The region’s total foreign trade jumped to 435.11 billion yuan in 2024, attaining 21.8 percent year-on-year growth. It’s beyond doubt that Xinjiang ranks among the world’s most desired travel destinations. The region welcomed 302 million tourist arrivals in 2024, with its public security satisfaction rate remaining exceptionally high at 99.42 percent, a embodiment to its safe and stable environment.

Xinjiang’s progress has enhanced the people’s sense of gain, fulfillment and security. Under the CPC’s leadership and guidelines on Xinjiang governance in the new era, and with institutional support from the entire nation, development and modernization in Xinjiang have become an unstoppable reality.

The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.