Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in September 2025 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region, calling for efforts to build a socialist modern Xinjiang.
On September 23, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, arrived in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to attend activities marking the region's 70th founding anniversary.
It was his fourth visit to the region since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. Conveying a message of warm congratulations and sincere best wishes, the president urged the region to chart a new chapter for building a socialist modern Xinjiang.
"I hope Xinjiang will take the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Autonomous Region as a new starting point, unite hearts and efforts, and make long, tenacious efforts. We should build a socialist modern Xinjiang that is characterized by unity, harmony, prosperity, affluence, cultural progress and a sound eco-environment, where people live and work in peace and contentment," Xi said.
The CPC's guidelines for governing Xinjiang in the new era have so far yielded fruitful results, and Xinjiang is experiencing its best period of development in history. From the southern to the northern Tianshan Mountains, breathtaking landscapes are being reshaped day by day.
By improving people’s livelihoods, a stronger sense of the Chinese nation as one community is being strengthened. This is one of the most vivid expressions of Chinese modernization: the warmth of development is ultimately reflected in the shared sweetness of every "pomegranate seed."
Xi calls for efforts to build socialist modern Xinjiang
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
