70 years on, China's Xinjiang embraces future with vitality, stability (2)

Aerial photo taken on June 14, 2019 shows the construction site of a highway linking Bulungkol with Kunjirap in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)

VIBRANT ECONOMY

Spotless packaging lines are in full operation at a plant in Xinjiang Fruits Products Group Co., Ltd., based in Urumqi, the regional capital. Dried dates, walnuts and raisins produced in Xinjiang are sold across the country and overseas.

Thriving fruits, grain, cotton, and animal husbandry industries make Xinjiang the main agricultural region in China. It is the country's largest cotton production base.

The tourism, trade and manufacturing industries are also booming in the region. From January to August, Xinjiang received about 150 million tourists, which is close to the full-year figure for 2018. The region is expected to welcome over 200 million tourists this year, said Erkin Tuniyaz, vice chairman of Xinjiang.

Xinjiang's gross domestic product (GDP), which was 791 million yuan in 1952, soared to 1.2 trillion yuan in 2018, an annual growth rate of 8.3 percent. Per capita GDP was 49,000 yuan in 2018, yearly growth of 5.7 percent compared to 1952, statistics showed.

Since 2014, Xinjiang has seen 2,451 westbound trains, reaching out to 26 cities in 19 countries, exporting mechanical parts and laptops while importing products such as wine and grain. In 2018, Xinjiang's foreign trade volume was 20 billion U.S. dollars, 1,481 times the figure in 1950.

"Xinjiang plays an irreplaceable role in building the Silk Road Economic Belt. It must seize the historic opportunity, and integrate regional opening-up strategy into the country's efforts to build the Silk Road Economic Belt and open up to the west," President Xi said.