DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS IN XINJIANG

(part One)

  　　 Preface

　　The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region extends through the northwest of the People’s Republic of China and accounts for about one sixth of its land territory.

　　Historically, Xinjiang served as the passage for land transport and cultural contacts between Asia and Europe. The famous Silk Road linking the ancient civilizations of the East and the West went through the vast land of Xinjiang. Xinjiang’s geographical location has resulted in the region’s distinctive feature: coexistence and integration of diverse peoples and their cultures. Since the 1st century BC, Xinjiang has been an important component of China, and played a significant role in developing China into a unified multiethnic country.

　　Xinjiang achieved its peaceful liberation on the eve of the founding ceremony of New China on October 1, 1949. The peoples of Xinjiang, who had undergone great sufferings together with the peoples of the rest of China, became the masters of the country, and Xinjiang entered a new era of development.

　　Over the past 60 years, under the leadership and care of the Communist Party of China and the central government, and with the support and assistance of all peoples in the rest of China, the Xinjiang people of all ethnic groups made arduous efforts to achieve great advances in create a happy life and a beautiful home. The region has made a historic leap out of underdevelopment, with tremendous changes taking place in the areas north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.

　　The development and progress of the region should be attributed to the concerted efforts by all peoples of Xinjiang under the banner of ethnic solidarity, as well as to the success of China’s ethnic policy.

　　I. Rapid Economic Development

　　Before the founding of New China, Xinjiang had a natural economy mainly comprised of farming and animal husbandry. Its development was stagnant, its productivity levels were low and its production modes were underdeveloped. The region did not have an inch of railroads, nor did it have large farms or vast stretches of 　fertile fields. Privately owned small workshops were what signified industry in the region. The local people led a life of poverty and hardship.

　　Since 1949, particularly since the late 1970s when China introduced the reform and opening up policy, Xinjiang has entered a period of rapid economic and social development and enhanced overall strength, and its residents have enjoyed the most tangible benefits than ever before. Proceeding from the state development strategy and the fundamental interests of the people of all ethnic groups, the Chinese government has paid great attention to the development and construction of Xinjiang. It has made it a national basic policy to help the frontier areas develop their economies for the common good and wealth, and made timely strategic decisions to promote Xinjiang’s development. Xinjiang has been given priority in the national strategy launched in 2000 to develop the western region.

　　Over the past years, Xinjiang has made full use of its own advantages, and focused on economic restructuring and transformation of the patterns of economic growth, infrastructure development and environmental protection, along with improvement of people’s livelihood and basic public services, in order to keep the region’s development in pace with national development, and to ensure beneficial interaction between the development of southern and northern Xinjiang.

　　— Xinjiang’s overall strength increased considerably. Calculated at constant prices, the region’s GDP in 2008 stood at 420.3 billion yuan, 86.4 times higher than that of 1952, three years before the establishment of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, representing an average annual increase of 8.3%; 19.6 times higher than that of 1978 (when the reform and opening up policy was introduced), an average annual increase of 10.4%; and 2.2 times higher than that of 2000 when the strategy of large-scale development of the western region was introduced, an average annual increase 10.6%. The region’s revenue reached 36.106 billion yuan in 2008, 4.56 times that of 2000, 50.57 times that of 1978, and 208.71 times that of 1955.

　　— Xinjiang’s economic structure gradually improved. In recent years, Xinjiang has witnessed rapid growth of its industry, agriculture, and service sector. As industrialization quickens, industry has replaced agriculture to become the region’s key economic sector. Tertiary industry, or the service sector, is also playing a major role in Xinjiang’s economic development. Wholesale and retail businesses and catering industry have expanded swiftly, while post and telecommunications networks have been widely set up, and new sectors, such as real estate and finance, are booming. In 2008, primary, secondary and tertiary industries accounted for 16.4%, 49.7% and 33.9% of the region’s GDP respectively.

　　— Xinjiang strengthened its infrastructure development. Given its “irrigation farming in oases,” the region has built a number of large modern water conservancy projects, such as the Kizil Reservoir in Aksu and the Ulug Ata Reservoir in Hotan, in addition to canals, ditches and seepage control projects, which have greatly increased the amount of water diverted, reservoir storage capacity and effectively irrigated areas. The completion of the Tarim River improvement project in 2008, which cost more than 10 billion yuan, put an end to the river’s 30-year history of running dry for some 300 kilometers in its lower reaches. Efforts to build shelterbelts in north, northeast and northwest China, green plain areas, return farmland to forests and return pastures to grasslands have also improved farming conditions in Xinjiang. Drip and spray irrigation is now available to nearly 800,000 hectares of farmlands in the region, thus saving 5 billion cubic meters of water annually.

　　By the end of 2008, Xinjiang had completed eight national highways, 66 inter-province highways, and more than 600 county-level roads, with the combined mileage reaching 147,000 kilometers. A highway network has taken shape centering on Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang, with roads surrounding the Junggar and Tarim basins and crossing the Gurbantunggut and Taklamakan deserts and the Tianshan Mountains, to link southern and northern Xinjiang. With the completion of railroads going through southern and northern Xinjiang and the Lanzhou-Xinjiang double-track railroad, the total length of railroads in Xinjiang surpassed 3,000 kilometers by 2008. Civil aviation has expanded swiftly, and a network with 114 domestic and international flight routes has been formed, radiating from Urumqi and connecting some 70 Chinese and foreign cities and 12 prefectures in Xinjiang, with flight routes totaling over 160,000 kilometers. Xinjiang now boasts the largest number of airports and the longest flight routes among all provinces and autonomous regions in China.

　　Xinjiang’s post and telecommunications industry has developed rapidly. A complete modern communications system in now in place, composed of program-controlled exchanges, fiber-optical communications, digital microwave, as well as satellite and mobile communications; and the entire region has been covered by optical cable, digital microwave and satellite communications.

　　— Overall agricultural production capacity improved notably in Xinjiang. Xinjiang boasts abundant agricultural resources. In recent years, the region has accelerated its industrialized production of grain, cotton, special fruits and quality livestock farming as well as agriculture facility building. The region’s industrialized belts of advantageous and special farming products are taking shape. The fundamental status and overall production capacity of agriculture have both been enhanced, and the effective supply of agricultural products is increasing multifold.

　　Agricultural value added in Xinjiang reached 69.1 billion yuan in 2008, 1.4 times more than that of 2000; and the total output of grain was 10.2285 million tons, leaving a slight surplus after meeting local demand. Xinjiang is one of China’s major bases of commercial cotton, and it produced 3.0155 million tons of cotton in 2008, ranking first in China in terms of total output, per-unit output and per-capita output.

　　Xinjiang has accelerated development of its modern animal husbandry, which now accounts for 27% of the region’s agricultural output value. In 2008, meat output stood at 1.7549 million tons, up 95% from 2000. Fruit production is also increasing quickly. In 2008, the total area of fruit trees exceeded 1 million hectares, and fruit output topped 4 million tons, worth 6 billion yuan in output value.

　　By 2008, Xinjiang had had 1,059 agricultural produce processing enterprises. The region is the largest tomato processing and export center in China. Its daily dairy-processing capacity has been boosted from less than 1,000 tons to nearly 3,000 tons over the past few of years, the fastest growth in all provinces and autonomous regions in China. Xinjiang is also the largest production center of beet sugar in China, with an annual output of 600,000 tons. The wine-making industry is advancing dynamically in Xinjiang. The region’s agricultural processing has made production-on-order available to more than half of its planting areas, benefiting 65% of its rural households.

　　— Xinjiang has gradually established its modern industry system. Xinjiang’s industry has grown out of nothing, and developed from small to big. In recent years, through transforming advantageous resources, and supporting large enterprises and groups while nurturing small and medium-sized ones, Xinjiang has quickened its industrialization pace. Its main industrial products have seen multiple increases in output; and a complete modern industrial system has taken shape, comprising petroleum, coal, iron and steel, chemical industries, power, building materials, and textiles. Industrial zones have emerged, including the economic belt on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, the Urumqi-Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture integrated economic zone and the Korla-Kuqa petrochemical belt, while 32 national and regional industrial parks have been built.

　　In Xinjiang industry has become an important factor propelling the local economy. In 2008, the industrial sector reported a 52.3% contribution to local economic growth, and industrial value added totaled 179.07 billion yuan, 274 times more than 1952, 16.6 times more than 1978, and 3.98 times more than 2000. Major industries and sectors in Xinjiang has increased their use of information technology, while the total amount of major pollutants discharged has been basically controlled, and energy-saving and emission-reduction efforts have yielded good results.

　　— Mineral resources further developed in Xinjiang. Xinjiang is one of the Chinese regions rich in oil, gas and coal resources. Encouraged by the state policy of making big investments in large-scale exploration and development of resources, Xinjiang has endeavored to turn its resource advantages into economic advantages, and to boost its economy by developing its resources in order to benefit all its people.

　　In 2008, Xinjiang ranked second in China by generating 27.22 million tons of crude oil; and first, by producing 24 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Driven by local oil-and-gas development and China’s cooperation with West Asian countries in relevant fields, Xinjiang is making rapid progress in developing its pipelines. By 2008, the region had had a network of pipelines whose total length exceeded 4,000 kilometers, covering southern, northern and eastern Xinjiang.

　　In recent years, thermal power and coal-chemical industries have boomed in Xinjiang. The rapid development of energy and chemical industries has not only met local demands for energy and petrochemical products, but also spurred services and other relevant sectors in the region. This is important for establishing and upgrading the regional economic structure, as well as for creating job opportunities and increasing the urbanization rate.

　　— Xinjiang has opened wider to the outside world. The region is one of China’s major gateways opening to the West. It is also an important passageway on the new Eurasian continental bridge. Bordered by Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Xinjiang has the longest land borders among all frontier provinces and autonomous regions in China. Since China’s reform and opening up, Xinjiang has changed from being closed or semi-closed to all-round opening up.

　　Xinjiang now has 17 Grade-I ports at the state level and 12 Grade-II ports at the regional level, linking the region immediately to over a dozen neighboring countries. By the end of 2008, Xinjiang had been conducting economic and trade cooperation, as well as scientific and technological and cultural exchanges, with 167 countries and regions.

　　In 2008, Xinjiang’s volume of foreign trade reached $22.217 billion, ranking 12th in China (and second among central and western municipalities directly under the central government, provinces and autonomous regions); it made $164 million non-finance direct investment abroad, ranking 13th in China; and its turnover from overseas contracted projects reached $795 million, ranking 14th. The region dispatched 8,548 people to work overseas, ranking 13th in China.

　　— Tourism in Xinjiang has witnessed buoyant growth. In recent years, Xinjiang’s tourism has become a new economic growth area. By 2008, the region had opened nearly 500 scenic zones or spots. Besides the main tourist route along the Silk Road, there are also the Kanas Lake ecotourism zone, the Heavenly Lake, Sayram and Bosten lakes, ancient cultural ruins in Turpan and Kuqa, the folk customs zone in Kashi, and the Ili grasslands. In 2008, Xinjiang hosted 22.3132 million foreign and domestic visitors, and reported nearly 20 billion yuan in tourism revenues.

　　— Xinjiang has enjoyed balanced economic development. The state and the autonomous region have supported areas with advantageous conditions in their efforts to take develop first, while adopting preferential policies and measures to boost the development of southern Xinjiang (with the focus on Kashi, Hotan and the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture) as well as pastureland and frontier areas, for more balanced development between southern and northern Xinjiang, and between urban and rural areas.

　　The economic belt on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains will take the initiative in localizing the industries from China’s eastern coast, in order to build a new industrial center. The Urumqi-Changji integration will be accelerated, while construction of national export processing zones, development zones and industrial parks will be sped up, and a modern service sector will be further developed. Based on oil and gas resources, and thermal power and coal-chemical industries, the construction of the Turpan-Hami petrochemical belt on the southern slope of the Tianshan Mountains will be expedited to seek a congregating effect of large projects to form groups of ancillary industries.

　　Great efforts will be made to promote the economic and social development of the autonomous prefectures of Kashi, Hotan and Kizilsu Kirgiz in southern Xinjiang, with priorities on a number of projects that are central to long-term development and improvement of people’s wellbeing, such as quakeproof housing, renovation of the old town of Kashi, rural infrastructure development, underground water tapping, reclamation of saline alkali lands, provision of safe drinking water, and spread of biogas in the countryside. Preferential policies shall be adopted to improve production and living conditions in pastureland and frontier areas, and to accelerate their development.

　　The great economic achievements are the results of the concerted efforts by all peoples of Xinjiang, and of support from the central government and the entire country. Over the years, the central government has, in formulating plans on national economic and social development, listed Xinjiang’s projects in infrastructure, agricultural development and a modern industrial system construction as key state projects enjoying preferential policies and financial support.

　　From 1950 to 2008, the central government invested 386.23 billion yuan in Xinjiang, accounting for 25.7% of the total investment in the region. From 1955 when the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was established to 2008, Xinjiang received a total of 375.202 billion yuan in subsidies from the central budget. Since the strategy of large-scale development of the western region was introduced in 2000, subsidies from the central government to Xinjiang have grown by 24.4% on average annually, reaching 68.56 billion yuan in 2008. The central government has increased capital input and support to the region by using loans from international financial organizations and foreign governments.

　　In recent years, to optimize Xinjiang’s industrial structure, the central government has moved a number of enterprises including factories from the economically more developed southeast coast of the country to Xinjiang, and transferred engineers and technicians from other areas of the country to the region’s newly built pillar enterprises. A large number of workers from Xinjiang’s ethnic minorities have been selected to work as interns in other areas of the country, thus fostering a contingent of skilled workers for the region within a short period.

　　Moreover, municipalities directly under the central government and provinces have been paired up with different parts of Xinjiang to provide the latter with large sums of capital, technology and talent, which have played an important role in the region’s development. On the one hand, the more-developed areas of China have dispatched technicians, teachers, doctors, management personnel and other professionals to work in Xinjiang’s prefectures and counties to disseminate advanced technology and concepts. On the other hand, Xinjiang has dispatched teams of its own officials, technicians and workers from Party and government organs, as well as economic management departments, to work and study in provinces and municipalities directly under the central government.

　　In recent years, at the request of the central government, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Shandong, Liaoning, Jiangxi and Henan as well as 15 state-owned large enterprises have been paired up with 33 counties or cities in southern Xinjiang to provide them with economic, scientific and technological, and cultural assistance.

　　II. Remarkable Improvement in People’s Lives

　　Having eliminated poverty and solved basic necessity problems, the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are now setting their eyes on more prosperous lives, along with marked improvement in their standard of living.

　　In 2008, the per-capita net income of farmers in Xinjiang was 3,503 yuan, which is 28 times more than that of 1978, and 1.2 times more than that of 2000 when the strategy of large-scale development of the western region was launched; the per-capita disposable income of urban residents reached 11,432 yuan, which is 35 times more than that of 1978, and double that of 2001. The per-capita deposited savings of urban and rural residents averaged 14 yuan in 1955, 52 yuan in 1978, 4,913 yuan in 2000, and 11,972 yuan in 2008. Per-capita consumption was 122 yuan in 1952, 181 yuan in 1978, 2,662 yuan in 2000, and 4,890 yuan in 2007.

　　Xinjiang residents’ income increases have become more diversified. In the countryside, besides conventional crops such as grain and cotton, fruit trees have become a new source of earnings for farmers and herders, bringing in 340 yuan per capita in 2008. In places that had developed fruit growing earlier, earnings from selling fruit accounted for more than 40% of the total income of farmers and herders. Another way to increase earnings is seeking jobs elsewhere, particularly in eastern China. In 2008, more than 1.5 million farmers and herders found jobs outside Xinjiang, bringing back an additional 150 yuan per person for all rural residents. The development of tourism has promoted the production and sales of tourist products with distinctive features of minority ethnic groups, and the growth of local handicrafts, directly or indirectly producing hundreds of thousands of jobs, and thus increasing household incomes.

　　The consumption levels of rural and urban residents have steadily risen in Xinjiang. Average per-capita amount of grain rose from 195.62 kilograms in 1949 to 300.09 kilograms in 1978, and further to 426.60 kilograms in 2008; average per-capita amount of cotton rose from 1.18 kilograms in 1949 to 4.46 kilograms in 1978, reaching 141.52 kilograms in 2008; and average per-capita amount of meat was 11.68 kilograms in 1949, 7.83 kilograms in 1978, and increased to 53.85 kilograms in 2008.

　　The consumption structure has changed in Xinjiang. The Engel’s coefficient (the proportion of food consumption) for rural residents was 60.8% in 1978, 50.0% in 2001, and 42.5% in 2008, and for urban residents it was 57.3% in 1980, 36.4% in 2001, and 37.3% in 2008.

　　Family consumption patterns are shifting from everyday items to services, culture, education, travel, healthcare, credit, information, private cars, and luxury housing. The consumption structure is changing from agricultural products like foodstuffs to electronic products for comfort and leisure. Food consumption is shifting from staple foods to non-cereal foods stressing nutritional balance. Clothing consumption is following the trends of readymade garments, latest fashions, brand-names and unique styles. The consumption of home appliances has experienced a shift from bicycles, sewing machines, watches and radios, to color TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines and cameras, as well as personal computers, video cameras, pianos and gym facilities. Now, cars are also becoming more affordable for an increasing number of families.

　　The number of home appliances bought by urban and rural families has been steadily rising in Xinjiang. In the countryside, in 1990 every 100 households owned 12.58 washing machines, which increased to 20.87 in 2000, and to 38 in 2008; in 1990 every 100 households owned 0.40 refrigerators, which increased to 9.93 in 2000, and to 30.32 in 2008; in 1990 every 100 households owned 1.37 motorcycles, which increased to 18.33 in 2000, and to 50.77 in 2008; and the number of cell phones per 100 households increased from 0.33 in 2000 to 54 in 2008.

　　In the cities, every 100 households owned 2.78 air-conditioners in 2000, and 11.18 in 2008; 4.81 cell phones in 2000, and 144.40 in 2008; 5.68 personal computers in 2000, and 41.32 in 2008; and 0.82 private cars in 2000, and 4.62 in 2008.

　　People’s living conditions have seen continuous improvement in Xinjiang. A wide range of transportation vehicles available has made travel much easier and faster. In the early days of reform and opening up in the 1980s, it took nearly one week to travel from Urumqi to Beijing by train, while now it takes only three hours by air. The length of paved road per 10,000 urban residents was 1.6 kilometers in 1978, 4.5 kilometers in 2000, and up to 15.7 kilometers in 2008. The number of buses per 10,000 urban residents was 3.1 in 1978 and increased to 13.2 in 2008.

　　Housing conditions have also greatly improved in Xinjiang. Per-capita floor space in the countryside was 10.2 square meters in 1983, 17.25 square meters in 2000, and 22.79 square meters in 2008; while per-capita floor space in cities was 11.9 square meters in 1983, 20.06 square meters in 2000, increasing to 27.3 square meters in 2008.

　　Presently, 97.86% of the population in cities in Xinjiang have access to tap water and the rate is 87.18% in county seats. While 89.33% of urban dwellers have access to cooking gas, the rate is 66.67% in county seats. In cities and towns the rate of centralized heating is 51.2%, the rate of sewage treatment 68%, and the rate of treatment of domestic waste is 16%. The urban green-coverage is 30.49%, the vegetation-land ratio is 26.19%, and per-capita public green area is 6.94 square meters.

　　In recent years, reasonably priced clean gas has become available to more than 300,000 households in 23 counties and cities in southern Xinjiang, including Korla, Hotan, Kashi,  Artux, Aksu, Moyu, Lop and Shule. The number of household gas users in southern Xinjiang grows by 1,000 a month. The felling poplar trees for household fuel has become a thing of the past.(To be continued)