Wang Lequan, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Committee met with local and foreign press corps on Thursday to describe the autonomous region’s development over the last five decades.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region celebrates the 50th anniversary of its establishment on October 1.

According to Wang, Xinjiang has set up five ethnic autonomous prefectures and six autonomous counties since 1952. In the last 50 years, much attention has been paid to the grooming, selection and utilization of ethnic minority cadres in order to guarantee the rights of the various ethnic groups.

When the region was first established in 1955, there were 46,000 ethnic minority cadres, but now there are 348,000, accounting for 52 percent of all the cadres in the region. “We have also 250,000 minority professionals and technical personnel, or 56 percent of all such personnel in Xinjiang. Over 66 percent of the women cadres belong to ethnic minorities,” Wang said.

Actually, all major leading posts in all ethnic autonomous governments are assumed by ethnic cadres, and ethnic minorities are fully represented at all levels of the People’s Congress.

In Xinjiang, the religious freedoms of all ethnic groups are respected, and normal religious activities are protected by law.

Wang also briefed the press on the achievements scored in the region's economic and social development since its establishment.

There are 487,000 professionals and technical personnel working in state-owned enterprises and institutions region-wide. According to incomplete data, the region has netted over 3,600 major scientific achievements since 1990. Xinjiang now boasts 28 institutions of higher learning, 183 secondary-level and vocational schools, 1,965 ordinary high schools and 5,451 primary schools which represent a 10.3, 13.2, 32.2 and 3.7 fold increase respectively compared with 1955. Student enrolment stands at 4.4 million, 58 percent of them from ethnic minorities. The enrolment rate of all the school-age children is 98.79 percent.

Radio and television coverage is currently 93 percent. The number of books published in Xinjiang has increased from 166 to 3,750 titles, and the number of newspapers has increased from four to 94.

Quality of life is improving steadily. In 2004, the per capita disposable income of the Xinjiang’s urban population reached 7,503 yuan, while per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen was 2,245 yuan, which increased by 23.5 times and 18.8 times respectively since 1978.

But since the 1990s, Wang pointed out, the “three forces” (meaning national separatists, terrorists and religious extremists) in China and abroad have plotted and stirred up a spate of violence and terrorist activities in the region.

“In recent years, faced with a complicated and volatile international situation and fighting against separatism in Xinjiang, we have never deviated from economic construction. We continue to unswervingly oppose national separatism, thereby upholding national unity by resolutely lashing out at the destructive activities of the “three forces” to effectively safeguard social stability. At the moment, in Xinjiang, the economy is developing, the society is stable, all ethnic groups are united and living in peace and contentment,” Wang said.

(China.org.cn August 25, 2005)