Full Text: The History and Development of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
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E-mail Xinhua, October 5, 2014
I. Founding and Development
Xinjiang is situated in the border areas of Northwest China. Founding of the XPCC occurred under a special geographical and historical background.
When Xinjiang was peacefully liberated in 1949, the region featured a natural economy, with farming and animal husbandry as the mainstay. Productivity was low and the mode of production was backward. Development was stalled and local residents lived in poverty. Aiming to consolidate border defense, accelerate Xinjiang's development, and reduce the economic burden on the local government and local residents of all ethnic groups, in January 1950 the People's Liberation Army (PLA) units stationed in Xinjiang started focusing their efforts on production and construction. By the end of that year they had become largely self-sufficient in grains and fully self-sufficient in edible oil and vegetables. In 1953 the Xinjiang Military District reorganized its troops into two divisions: defense troops and production troops. The latter had 43 regimental agricultural and stock raising farms and 77,260 hectares of farmland. The production troops also set up industrial, transport, construction, and commercial enterprises, as well as public institutions of science and technology, education, health, and culture, so paving the way for the founding of the Production and Construction Corps.
In October 1954 the central government ordered the demobilization of most of the PLA Second, Fifth, and Sixth Armies and all of the 22nd Army Group in Xinjiang, and their separation from the setups of the national defense forces to form the Production and Construction Corps of the Xinjiang Military District of the PLA, subject to the dual leadership of the Xinjiang Military District and the Xinjiang Sub-bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The XPCC's missions were to carry out both production and militia duties, and to cultivate and guard the border areas. Henceforth the XPCC officially commenced its building of state-run agricultural and stock raising farms, and transformed from military self-sufficient production to production as an enterprise, incorporated into national planning. The XPCC had an initial population of 175,500, later swelled by large numbers of youth, demobilized military personnel, intellectuals, scientists, and technicians. As of May 1956 the XPCC was subordinated to the dual leadership of the Ministry of Land Reclamation and Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.
In 1962 some local residents in Xinjiang's Ili and Tacheng crossed the frontier. By order of the state, the XPCC dispatched more than 17,000 officials and workers to Ili and Tacheng to maintain public order and tend the farmland and livestock of those who had fled. They quickly set up a belt of regimental farms ranging from 10 to 30 kilometers in breadth along the more than 2,000-kilometer-long boundaries of Ili, Tacheng, Altay, Hami, and Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. They played a crucial role in maintaining stability in Xinjiang, safeguarding national border security, and improving China's strategic position in its northwest border defense. By the end of 1966, the Corps had 158 regimental agricultural and stock raising farms, with a population of 1,485,400.
During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), the XPCC suffered serious disruption in fulfilling its mission of cultivating and guarding the border areas. In March 1975 the Corps was dissolved. The General Administration of Land Reclamation of Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region was founded to take charge of state-run agricultural and stock raising farms in Xinjiang. In December 1981 the central government decided to restore the production and construction corps organizational system. It renamed the Production and Construction Corps of the Xinjiang Military District of the PLA the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The Corps then recommenced its pioneering work. Over the past 30 years or more, the XPCC has introduced reforms by expediting the general contract responsibility system and the enterprise contract responsibility system and setting up workers' household farms. It has also developed diverse sectors of the economy, promoted industrial development and established new cities and towns. The XPCC has thus scaled new heights of progress in its endeavor to cultivate and guard the border areas.
Over the past 60 years, in fulfilling its mission the XPCC has adhered to the principle of "not competing for benefits with the local people." The XPCC reclaimed farmland and successively built regimental agricultural and stock raising farms in the Gobi desert to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and in the harsh natural environment of the desolate border areas. The XPCC has gradually established a multi-sector industrial system encompassing food processing, light industry, textiles, iron and steel, coal, building materials, electricity, chemicals, and machinery. It has also achieved significant progress in education, science and technology, culture, health, and other public sectors. By the end of 2013, the XPCC had 176 regiments, 14 divisions, an area of 70,600 square kilometers under its administration, including 1,244,770 hectares of farmland, and a population of 2,701,400, accounting for 11.9% of Xinjiang's total population.
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