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“Xinjiang has become a vivid epitome of China’s rapid economic
development and fully reflected the significant advantages and
vitality of China’s governance,” said Chen Xiaojiang, secretary
of the Chinese Communist Party Xinjiang Committee.
The region also has plans for a number of large infrastructure
projects including more railways and flights, Chen said.
Like many other provinces in China's west, Xinjiang is poorer
than the industrial east coast. Rural residents of the province
had per capita income of 13,052 yuan ($1,927) in 2020, while
rural residents in China's wealthy province Zhejiang had income
of 31,930 yuan ($4,714) in 2020.
The region's economic disparity is one of the forces that led to
turmoil that culminated in attacks by a small number of
extremists among the Uyghurs. China then imprisoned a million or
more people from ethnic minority groups, mostly Uyghurs,
beginning in 2017. The government said the detentions were a
response to the attacks.
By 2021, China said it had shut most of the detention centers,
but at least a few camps were converted into facilities serving
as prisons. Information leaked to The Associated Press showed
thousands of Uyghurs were imprisoned with long sentences on what
experts say were fabricated or exaggerated charges.
For those outside prison, particularly in areas of southern
Xinjiang with large Uyghur populations, activists say forced
participation in government jobs programs has been widespread
and is increasing in China's latest five-year economic plan,
according to human rights group Global Rights Compliance.
The Chinese government has previously said what it calls
“anti-China forces” have exaggerated issues in Xinjiang by
portraying authorities’ counterterrorism and anti-extremism
efforts as targeting specific ethnic, regional or religious
groups.
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