Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has achieved historic breakthroughs in its economic development, said an official from the region on Friday.
Chen Weijun, executive vice chairman of the regional government, briefed a press conference in Beijing, releasing a white paper on the governance of Xinjiang.
Multiple economic indicators in Xinjiang are among the fastest-rising nationwide, said Chen.
"In terms of total volume, multiple economic indicators have achieved historic breakthroughs. For example, Xinjiang's gross domestic product (GDP) surpassed the two trillion yuan (about 281.4 billion U.S. dollars) mark for the first time last year. The total import and export volume of Xinjiang also hit a record high of 434 billion yuan in 2024. From 2022 to 2024, Xinjiang's total import and export volume exceeded the 100 billion yuan mark for three consecutive years," said Chen.
"Last year, Xinjiang's GDP grew by 6.1 percent year on year. Its fixed-asset investment rose by 6.9 percent year on year, value-added industrial output of enterprises above the designated size grew by eight percent, and general public budget revenue rose by 10.5 percent," said Chen.
Leveraging its geographical advantage, Xinjiang has been actively promoting the building of a golden channel across the Eurasian continent and a gateway for opening up to the west.
"We are making every effort to accelerate the construction of the Eurasian Golden Corridor. To date, we have established 119 bilateral international road transport routes and 10 multilateral international road freight routes. In 2024, a total of 16,400 freight trains traveled through Xinjiang on the China-Europe Railway Express, maintaining an annual volume of over 10,000 trains for five consecutive years. The increasingly robust transportation network, which includes road, rail, and air routes that span mountains and rivers, is creating stronger connections that link Xinjiang to global markets," Chen added.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Located in northwest China, the region is home to more than 26 million people from dozens of ethnic groups.
Xinjiang achieves historic breakthroughs in economic development: official
Xinjiang achieves historic breakthroughs in economic development: official
Xinjiang achieves historic breakthroughs in economic development: official
Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
