(Continuation, the beginning of this article is in the link Part I)
It should be noted that Beijing’s official policy towards Xinjiang at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries was shaped by an active search for a suitable regional strategy that would meet its social, economic, and political needs and characteristics. At the end of the 20th century, Xinjiang began to be integrated into China’s unified economic and political system. Today, in the early third decade of the 21st century, Xinjiang’s policy is gradually being reorganized from a focus on China’s internal development to the maintenance of China’s trade and economic relations with neighbouring countries. This period is marked by a reorientation of China’s economy towards people, the country’s increasing participation and influence on the international stage, and numerous reforms within the province, which had until recently been one of China’s most challenging regions. The new regional policy has set the course for Xinjiang’s development and defined its uniqueness, with each of China’s leaders from the late 20th to early 21st century contributing their vision, enhancing and transforming the policy, eventually bringing Xinjiang to its current state.
According to Beijing’s plan, the countries of Central Asia, which are culturally and civilizationally close to Xinjiang, should secure its position as an economic, transport-logistics, trade, cultural, and scientific-educational hub, thus paving new routes to the Mediterranean coast, facilitating the connectivity of Asia and Europe from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and opening a path through the Persian Gulf countries towards the African continent. This is why experts’ statements that Central Asia is the geographical centre of the world, serving as a transit corridor between Asia and Europe, are validated by the results of the Xi’an summit within the framework of the “China–Central Asia” dialogue (May 18-19, 2023), where China itself expressed a strong interest in jointly deepening and strengthening both mutual political trust and comprehensive strategic cooperation through multilateral mechanisms.
When talking about Xinjiang, it is also important to mention the region’s impressive socio-economic growth and internal political stability. Thanks to the CPC Central Committee’s poverty alleviation policies, this issue has been largely resolved in the region, which has led to increased well-being for its citizens and the creation of socio-economic infrastructure. As a result, the tourism industry is developing, generating new jobs, and ultimately raising the material prosperity of the population. For example, each year records a significant increase in the gross regional product (GRP), investments, consumption, imports, exports, budget revenues, and people’s income levels, which has propelled Xinjiang into China’s top five provinces in terms of growth rates for these economic indicators. In 2014, Xinjiang’s GRP was around $140 billion, but by the end of 2023, it had nearly doubled to $270 billion (over 1.9 trillion yuan). For comparison, the combined GDP of all five Central Asian countries in 2023 was $456 billion (with Kazakhstan alone contributing $260 billion). In the first half of 2024, Xinjiang’s GRP increased by 5.4% year-on-year to 921.14 billion yuan (about $130 billion). By the end of 2024, with the current growth rate, Xinjiang’s GRP could exceed 2 trillion yuan. This is remarkable considering that Xinjiang is still regarded as one of China’s lagging regions compared to the prosperous coastal provinces.
Once a volatile region, Xinjiang has changed significantly, gradually acquiring the characteristics of a modern, urbanized, high-tech space. Over the past two years, Xinjiang’s total import and export volumes have grown by 57% and 45.9%, respectively. Over a 15-year period (2007-2022), Xinjiang’s import and export volume increased from 100 billion yuan (about $14 billion) to 200 billion yuan. In 2023, Xinjiang’s total trade turnover reached 357.3 billion yuan, and it is expected that this figure will surpass 400 billion yuan in 2024. In addition, Xinjiang continues to expand its openness to both domestic and international markets, as evidenced by numerous cooperation agreements signed with foreign countries and international organizations, as well as the establishment of trade and economic relations with 180 countries and regions worldwide. This has effectively transformed Xinjiang from an isolated inland region into a stronghold of the central zone of the New Silk Road, with a robust system of economic and trade ties.
Over the past decade, more than 70% of Xinjiang’s regional budget expenditures have been allocated to improving people’s living standards. In rural areas of Xinjiang, three-year preschool education and nine-year compulsory education are now free, and in four southern districts of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), 15-year free education, from kindergarten through high school, is available.
The Xinjiang government has implemented various employment measures. In 2023, 482,200 new jobs were created in Xinjiang’s cities and towns. Healthcare is also receiving increased attention. High-quality medical resources have been shifted to grassroots structures, and a comprehensive healthcare system has been established, covering both urban and rural areas. This has increased the average life expectancy to 74.7 years. As of today, 2.7 million earthquake-resistant rural homes have been built in Xinjiang, housing over 11 million farmers and herders, which is crucial as north-western Xinjiang experienced severe earthquakes in 2023-2024. In addition, during this period, Xinjiang has fully implemented the CPC’s ethnic policy, promoting extensive exchange and integration among representatives of all ethnic groups.
As we can see, over the past ten years (2014–2024), the CPC Central Committee has achieved a major political goal—Xinjiang has become a stable and prosperous region for the first time in many decades, significantly contributing to the realization of the “Chinese Dream of the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation” and ensuring the basic human rights to a dignified life and access to the main benefits of modern civilization.
However, much of the information about Xinjiang in Western media today is largely distorted. It should be noted that the long-standing efforts to destabilize Xinjiang were linked to global competitors attempting to halt the development of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and neutralize transport corridors running through Central Asia, which open new economic opportunities for Beijing. This is evidenced by the artificially created waves of Sinophobia, which have occasionally been actively fuelled in several Central Asian countries through the media and NGOs, further confirming the strategic significance of the “Central Asia + Xinjiang” connection.
Beijing’s reliance on Xinjiang as a mediator in political, economic, and cultural-humanitarian cooperation with Central Asian countries is demonstrated by the official visits of CPC Politburo member and Secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee Ma Xingrui to four Central Asian republics—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan—in March and November 2023. These visits, held in the 10th anniversary year of the “Belt and Road Initiative,” were a logical step in strengthening strategic partnerships between China and Central Asian countries within the framework of important strategic agreements previously reached, with China’s cooperation with the region being facilitated through Xinjiang. As Mr. Ma Xingrui stated during his meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: “We, as a region of China, are responsible for the country’s westward connections.”
Looking ahead, Xinjiang is expected to become a major transport and energy hub, an economically developed, outward-looking region, which will further strengthen China’s cooperation with Central Asian states. First, this will create production and logistics centres in Xinjiang and other structures tied to cooperation with neighbouring Central Asian countries, stimulating the economic development of the autonomous region and promoting job creation and population welfare. Secondly, the issues of development and security will be addressed across the border through increased connectivity and mutual economic growth between Xinjiang and the Central Asian countries within the framework of the “Belt and Road Initiative.” In addition to mutual economic growth, this will serve as an effective remedy against any manifestations of extremism and terrorism, the threat of which still exists.
Thus, the CPC’s efforts to promote Xinjiang’s dynamic development over the next decade will be crucial for Central Asian countries, primarily integrating the region into the global economic system. The historical and ethno-cultural affinity between the peoples of Xinjiang and Central Asia should become a unifying factor, as the importance of maintaining peace, progress, cooperation, and mutually beneficial relations is a key lesson China has learned in its modernization process. The countries of the region have much to learn and strive for, not only as a bridge for business connections and economic cooperation but also in jointly building a community of a shared future oriented toward the future. The upcoming 70th anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and its achievements in political, socio-economic, and cultural development in the People’s Republic of China are the results of the thoughtful and purposeful work of the CPC and its leader Xi Jinping, who visited the region in the fall of last year, as well as a testament to the triumph of national policy that has transformed Xinjiang into a wonderful place…
Erkin Baidarov, specially for the China Studies Centre.
