“Xinjiang will improve its more developed sectors, such as
petrochemicals and farm produce processing, and expand exports by
making full use of abundant resources and location advantage.”
The statement came from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Chairman Ismail
Tiliwaldi at a Sunday afternoon press conference held during
the ongoing session of the 10th National People’s Congress
(NPC).
Xinjiang, in northwest China, has a land area of 1.7 million
square kilometers and a population of 19.3 million.
The region’s economy grew rapidly in 2003, with GDP reaching
187.5 billion yuan (US$22.7 billion), up 10.8 percent over the
previous year, while total government revenue hit 26.3 billion yuan
(US$3.2 billion). Its trade volume came in at about US$4.8
billion.
“All these achievements are closely associated with the upward
trend of China’s economy and the strategy of western development,”
said Tiliwaldi.
Last year, fixed asset investment in Xinjiang surpassed 100
billion yuan (US$12 billion). Since the launch of the western
development strategy in 1998, over 300 billion yuan (US$36.2
billion) has been sunk into local infrastructure construction.
“In the past few years, great efforts were devoted to the
construction of infrastructure like transportation, energy and oil
pipelines, thus laying a solid foundation for economic growth,”
Tiliwaldi said.
However, the majority of these projects were funded by the
central government, while foreign investment – the most important
factor for economic growth – has been negligible so far. Actual
foreign investment last year was about US$161.5 million, far behind
other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. China is
now the number one foreign direct investment destination in the
world, receiving over US$53.5 billion last year.
To optimize the investment structure, Xinjiang now sets to
introduce more private domestic and foreign investment. Xinjiang’s
abundant resources will be the lure for investors, Tiliwaldi
said.
The region has the largest oil, coal and natural gas reserves in
the country, accounting for 30 percent, 40 percent and 35 percent,
respectively, of the nation’s total. The region also produces a
large share of China’s cotton, wool,
sugar beets, grapes and tomatoes.
Priority will be given to developing the petrochemicals,
textiles, red wine and ketchup industries, where Xinjiang is
believed to have the greatest advantages.
“We hope that domestic and foreign investors can use our raw
materials to produce goods in Xinjiang and export them to
neighboring nations,” Tiliwaldi said.
Xinjiang is adjacent to eight central Asian nations: Mongolia,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and India. The region now has 16 grade-one land ports and 11
grade-two ports. The border trade volume last year was US$3.0
billion.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun March 8, 2004)