Wang Lequan, Member of the Political Bureau of CPC Central Committee and Secretary of CPC Xinjiang Committee, yesterday gave a press conference in Beijing on the development of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
Below are his official full translated remarks:
Ladies and gentlemen,
To begin with, I would like to extend a welcome to the Chinese and foreign journalists attending this press conference, and express a heartfelt gratitude to the friends of the Chinese and foreign media that have given attention and support to the economic and social development in Xinjiang.
The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is located in the border area of northwest China with an area of 1.66 million square kilometers accounting for one sixth of the Chinese territory. It has a population of 19.63 million composed of 47 ethnic groups, 13 of which are old settlers whereas over 60 percent are ethnic minorities. Xinjiang borders on eight countries. As such, it represents a province with the largest area, the longest overland boundary and the biggest number of neighboring countries. Due to its vast expanse of territory and rich resources, Xinjiang occupies a highly important strategic position.
1. Xinjiang is blessed with its advantage in natural resources and geographic location.
Not deficient in water, land, sunshine and heat, Xinjiang is in a position to utilize more than 1 billion mu of land for its agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, or over one tenth of the country’s land resources suitable for agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry. At present, it has 60 million mu of cultivated land, meaning three mu per capita. Plus, there is more than 100 million mu of land available for reclamation, 700 million mu of land available for pasture. The Region has 570 rivers, big and small. The annual flow-through surface water is 88.4 billion cubic meters while the ground water is supplied with 39.5 billion cubic meters on average with 25.2 billion cubic meters available for tapping.
Ample mineral resources and rich assortment feature the Region. 138 types of minerals so far have been discovered, 117 of which have been verified for their reserves and 43 types find themselves among the top ten nation-wide. And there are five types whose reserves lead the entire country. In addition, 23 types top the nation’s northwestern part. Based on the second oil and gas evaluation, Xinjiang has an oil reserve of 20.86 billion tons, accounting for 30 percent of China’s overland oil reserve. The natural gas reserve amounts to 10.3 trillion cubic meters, which is 34 percent of China’s overland natural gas reserve. The coal reserve is estimated at 2.19 trillion tons, in other words, 40 percent of China’s total. Also, reserves of copper, iron, nickel, sylvite and gold are considerable and could be exploited on a large scale.
Xinjiang has varied and colorful tourist attractions. As the vital passage of the ancient “Silk Road�?, the Region is replete with its unique places of historic interest, natural views and ethnic customs and traditions. Furthermore, in the north and south of the sprawling Tianshan Mountains, there are mountain streams, lakes, oasis prairie, Gobi desert, rare species, primitive eco-system as well as countless amazing natural landscapes of various styles and colorful historical and cultural heritages. Therefore, Xinjiang has great potential for tourism.
Xinjiang enjoys excellent geographic position. Xinjiang has a geographic edge in opening up to the West. Currently, with its 17 first-category national ports of entry, it has fostered economic and trade relations with more than 100 countries and regions, forming an omni-directional pattern opening to the hinterland and foreign countries by relying on the border regions, the Eurasian continental bridge and trunk lines. As Russia and Central Asian countries are recovering from their economic downturns and the entire line of the Eurasian continental bridge is open to traffic, Xinjiang has become the forefront for foraying into Central Asia, South Asia and East Europe.
2. Remarkable achievements have been scored in the economic and social development since the founding of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region five decades ago.
Xinjiang was liberated peacefully on September 25, 1949. And on October 1, 1955, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was founded. During the five decades, especially since the reform and opening to the outside world, under the care of and with the support by the Central Government and enjoying the aid and assistance of all the Chinese people, all ethnic groups in the Region are united in their hard struggle and their effort to start from ground up, enabling the Region to gain tremendous achievements both in the economic and social development and making the great leapfrog happen in social historical development.
Xinjiang is having a fast-growing economy. We are dedicated to the economic construction believing it as central to all other tasks, and we are persisting in our strategy of transforming our cutting edge resources so as to push forward the rapid economic growth. As a result, our economic strength is making itself felt. The year 2000 saw the Region achieve its goal: a GDP four times bigger and a per capita GDP 3.5 times bigger than that of 1980, which facilitated the historical transformation from mere subsistence to a well-to-do lifestyle. Since the advent of the new century, we have been seizing the historical opportunity offered by the West China Development policy by focusing on economic and industrial restructuring and striving to develop the Region-specific economy. Thanks to these efforts, in 2004 the Region’s GDP amounted to 220.015 billion yuan, which was 42 times as much as that of 1955. And the per capita GDP came to 11,199 yuan, way above the country’s average. Its agricultural output reached 75.068 billion yuan or 18.2 times more than 1955. The Region-specific agriculture has registered a fast growth with cotton output accounting for one third in the entire country, turning the Region into the nation’s biggest commodity cotton production base. The forestry, fruit and horticulture developed around the Trans-Tarim Basin have an area of over 10 million mu, creating an industry belt featuring quality Region-specific forest products and fruits. The modern livestock husbandry is making its pace steadily and has become an essential growth point of the income of the farmers and herdsmen. The industrial restructure is picking up its speed as evidenced by the dynamic development of pillar industries such as oil and petrochemical industry whose added value accounts for 66.5 percent of that of the Region’s sizable industries. The Region’s oil and natural gas rank third and second respectively and as such Xinjiang has become a pivotal oil and petrochemical industry base in China’s West.
Xinjiang also stands out in its spectacular infrastructure construction and increasingly improved ecosystem. From 1955 to 2004, the Region’s investment in the fixed assets came to 799.125 billion yuan that yielded over 89,000 commissioned projects — an immense productive capacity. Since the founding of the Autonomous Region, the agricultural land and water conservancy projects have been constructed on a large scale. A great number of the accomplished water conservancy projects have led to the improvement of the conditions for agricultural production. By 2004, there were 2,999 kilometers of operating trunk railway lines coupled with 86,800 kilometers of highway as well as 11 airports and one all-weather stand-by airport. The air service covers 112,000 kilometers. The power industry is developing too with the construction of a batch of core plants whose electricity generating capacity has jumped from 55 million kw/h in 1955 to 26.63 billion kw/h at present. The same can be said of the PTT construction highlighted by the presence of a modern comprehensive communication system featured by program-controlled exchange, fiber-optic communication, digital microwave, satellite communication and mobile communication. Especially since the strategy of developing China’s West was enforced, the Central Government has stepped up its financial input and support in Xinjiang. The landmark project — Eastward Transmission of Natural Gas from West China has already been in place. And the comprehensive taming of Tarim River basin is also bearing the first batch of fruits. Overall, the construction of water conservancy, transportation, energy and other infrastructure projects is entering into a new period of rapid construction. According to the overall concept of the State with regard to the Building Another Beautiful West, efforts are being made to push forward the ecosystem protection and construction, laying an important foundation for sustainable development.
At the same time, various social undertakings are making leaps and bounds leading to a better quality of life for all ethnic groups. The Region is now making the strategy of Building up Xinjiang with Science and Education work and sparing no effort in advancing the scientific and educational undertakings. There are 487,000 professional and technical personnel in the state-owned enterprises and institutions Region-wide, which represents 502 times as many as those in the early days of the peaceful liberation. According to incomplete data, the Region has netted over 3,600 major scientific achievements since 1990. Xinjiang now boasts 28 institutions of higher learning, 183 various secondary vocational schools, 1965 ordinary high schools and 5,451 primary schools which represent a 10.3, 13.2, 32.2 and 3.7 fold increase respectively as against 1955. The number of students in various schools at various levels totals 4.399 million, with 58 percent of all the students in Xinjiang composed of students of ethnic minorities. The enrolment rate of all the school- age children is 98.79 percent. The radio, film, television, press and publication have all experienced great development in that radio and television coverage reaches 93 percent. Books published in Xinjiang have increased from 166 to 3,750 titles, whereas the number of newspapers has increased from four to 94. The cultural life of all ethnic groups has become increasingly wholesome. Medical and health care continues to improve. The preventive health care network at the county, town and village level has been further upgraded. The number of doctors per thousand people and the number of ward beds in town and township clinics as well as health care providers per thousand agricultural people are all higher than the country’s average. Quality of life is getting better steadily, especially the two decades since the reform and opening up are the times when all ethnic groups benefit most and enjoy the rapid improvement of their material well-being. In 2004, the per capita disposable income of the Xinjiang’s urban and rural population reached 7,503 yuan, whereas per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen came to 2,245 yuan, which was 24.5 times and 19.8 times more than those in 1978 respectively.
3. Various ethnic groups in Xinjiang are united and live in harmony, and the entire Region is socially and politically stable.
Since 1952, five ethnic autonomous prefectures and six ethnic autonomous counties have been set up one after another. Over the last five decades, the State has attached great importance to the grooming, selection and utilization of minority cadres in order to guarantee the right of various ethnic groups to be the genuine masters. When the Autonomous Region was first established, there were 46,000 minority cadres, but now there are 348,000, accounting for 52 percent of all the cadres in the Region, which is 110 times as many as the total number in the early days after liberation. We have 250,000 minority professional and technical personnel, or 56 percent of all such personnel in Xinjiang, which is 562 times as many as those in the early days after liberation. Over 66 percent of the total women cadres have minority background. Actually, since the establishment of the Autonomous Region, all major leading posts in all ethnic autonomous governments are assumed by ethnic cadres. And ethnic minorities are fully represented at all levels of the People’s Congress. In Xinjiang, the religious freedom of all ethnic groups is fully respected, and normal religious activities are protected by law. All ethnic minorities have the political right to equitable participation in governance, and they indeed enjoy the right to become the true masters as well as the creators and beneficiaries of social, material and cultural wealth.
Unity constitutes a lifeline of all nationalities. We are conscientiously enforcing the policy for ethnic groups, raising awareness of the need for national unity and advancing the cause of national unity and progress. The Educational Month of Unity among Ethnic Groups that is ongoing for 23 years has worked its way to the hearts of the people, making the Han nationality inseparable from ethnic minorities and the ethnic minorities inseparable from the Han nationality and leading to the interdependence among ethnic minorities. Mutual trust, mutual respect, study from each other, mutual support and mutual understanding have become the order of the day, which in turn contributes to the consolidation and development of equitable, united, mutually supportive and harmonious socialist relations among various ethnic groups and the emergence of a situation where people share the common lot heart linked to the heart and strive to thrive harmoniously.
To strengthen unity among ethnic groups and oppose national separatism and to uphold the unification of our motherland and social and political stability represent the common aspiration and the fundamental interest of all ethnic groups, and also constitute a prerequisite and important guarantee for accelerating the development of ethnic minorities and ethnic regions. Since the 1990s of the last century, influenced by the international macro-environment, the “three forces�? — the antagonistic forces, forces of national-disruption and violent terrorist forces — in China and abroad plotted and stirred up a spate of violence and terrorist activities. Over the recent years, faced with complicated and volatile international situation and the severe situation of fighting against separatism in Xinjiang, we have never deviated from the economic construction while unswervingly opposing national separatism, upholding national unity by resolutely lashing out at the destructive activities of the “three forces�? thereby effectively safeguarding the social stability. At the moment, in Xinjiang, the economy is developing, the society is stable, all ethnic groups are united and enjoy living in peace and content.
4. Xinjiang has rosy prospects for its development, and all ethnic groups are full of confidence.
The first two decades of this century represent a period of crucial strategic opportunity we must seize and try to accomplish a great deal. Given the Region’s specific situation, we have come up with the goal of increasing GDP 3.5 fold by 2020 compared with 2000 so that we can enter the well-to-do society in an all-round way alongside the entire nation. We are committed to enforce the strategy of transforming our cutting edge resources and give first priority to the resolution of the so-called “three rurals,�? namely, the rural economy, rural community and rural residents. We will, on the premise of ensuring food security, keep up our effort to restructure the agriculture, spare no effort in developing the Region-specific economy by prioritizing the construction of the four bases for producing cotton, grain, specific forestry and fruits as well as livestock products. We will rely on our resource advantage and build up our pillar industries so as to turn Xinjiang into China’s important base for oil and natural gas as well as petrochemical and a base for coal-fired electricity and coal-based chemical industry as well as a vital alternate base for strategic energy with a view to treading a new path suitable for Xinjiang’s industrialization. We will do our best to make it happen in the first 20 years of this century. Besides, we will keep it up to upgrade the tertiary industry in Xinjiang by vigorously developing the community service, promoting commerce and trade as priority and actively nurturing new economic growth points. We will make the most of the geographic advantage of our location near the opening border and the continental bridge, keep to the practice of linking to the East and reaching out to the West and having things coming from the West go eastward, and improve our opening to the West so that we can build Xinjiang into an essential processing base for export to Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and even East Europe and an international trade and commercial center. We will make use of the timing when the State is increasing its investment in infrastructure construction by further speeding up the construction of water conservancy, energy, transportation, communication and major raw material and other infrastructure projects and basic industries in order to lay an even more solid foundation for the rapid economic development in Xinjiang. We will pursue the strategy of reinvigorating Xinjiang with science and education as well as strengthening Xinjiang with talents in an all-round way. In so doing, we will do everything in our power to develop science and technology, education, culture, public health and other social undertakings, and push forward the harmonious development of material civilization, political civilization and ethics.
The CPC Central Committee’s strategic decision of developing China’s West has offered Xinjiang an unprecedented opportunity. All ethnic groups in Xinjiang will welcome with open arms friends from every field to Xinjiang to start business and develop. I hope entrepreneurs in China and abroad will take an era-appropriate look at Xinjiang and look at it in the light of entrepreneurship, so as to take an active part in the great development and construction of Xinjiang. Also, I would like the Chinese and foreign media to give an all-round, accurate, objective and fair coverage of the tremendous achievements Xinjiang has scored in the 50 years since the founding of the Autonomous Region, and describe the brand new profile of Xinjiang where the economy is growing, the society is stable, all ethnic groups are united, and all the people live and work in peace and content. Let the world understand Xinjiang and let Xinjiang reach out to the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it would be my pleasure to take your questions and I would like to further share with you any information you might be interested in.
Thank you!
