About the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China

I. Development of Xinjiang
Since its founding in 1955, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has achieved historic success in economic and social development, with the region's overall economy growing 160 times and local GDP per capita growing 30 times. From 2017 to 2022, the local GDP increased to 1,774.134 billion yuan (roughly 5,322.4 billion kroons), with an average annual growth rate of 5.2%; the per capita GDP increased to 68,552 yuan (roughly 205,656 kroons), with an average annual growth rate of 4.1%; and the per capita disposable income of all residents increased to 27,063 yuan (roughly 8,118. 9 billion crowns), with an average annual growth rate of 6.3 %. Xinjiang to fully win the fight against poverty in time and achieve comprehensive welfare together with the nation; by the end of 2020, all 772,500 households and 3,064,900 rural poor people according to the current poverty standards in the region have been lifted out of poverty, and the overall regional poverty in the four prefectures of southern Xinjiang has been completely eliminated. The development of Xinjiang cannot be separated from the strong support of the central government and the selfless help of the nation, with the central government's transfer subsidies to Xinjiang reaching a cumulative total of 1,777.63 billion yuan (roughly 5,332.9 billion kroons) from 2018 to 2022, accounting for 53.8 % of local fiscal expenditure.

Xinjiang is rich in cultural and tourism resources, with six World Heritage Sites and 133 National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units. In recent years, the tourism industry in Xinjiang has prospered. In 2023, it welcomed 265,440,300 domestic and foreign tourists and realized total tourism revenue of 296,715 million yuan (roughly 890,145 million kronor). During the three-day New Year holiday in 2024, it welcomed 1,664,900 tourists and realized tourism revenue of 1,757 million yuan (roughly 5,270 million crowns).
Xinjiang's opening to the outside world continues to expand, with 20 state-approved ports, including 17 land border ports and 3 air ports, open to the outside world. In 2022, Xinjiang's foreign trade imports and exports amounted to 246.36 billion yuan (about 739.1 billion kronor).
Education development in Xinjiang. There are now 12,265 schools of all grades and types in the region with 6,547,200 students. The consolidation rate of nine-year compulsory schooling has reached 99.23 % and the gross enrollment rate of secondary schools has reached 98.90 %. There are 18 general colleges and universities with 281,200 undergraduate students, and Xinjiang University and Shihezi University have been selected for the national list of "double first-class" school construction.

II. Population in Xinjiang
Over the past 70 years since the founding of New China, Xinjiang's population has been growing rapidly and improving in quality, with the average life expectancy per capita steadily increasing from less than 30 years to 75.65 years, and data from the seventh national census in 2020 shows that Xinjiang has a total population of 25,852,300, of which the Han population is 10,920,100 and the ethnic minority population is 14,932,200. Compared with the 6th National Census, Xinjiang's population growth rate in 10 years ranked 4th in the country, population growth ranked 8th in the country, and the ranking of total population increased from 25th to 21st. At the end of 2022, the population of the region was 25.87 million.
In terms of Uyghur population development, the Uyghur population grew from 8,345,600 in 2000 to 11,624,300 in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 1.67 %, much higher than the average annual growth rate of the national minority population, which was 0.83 % over the same period. The education level of Uyghurs continues to increase, with 8,944 Uyghurs with a university degree per 100,000 population, 6,540 more than in 2000.

Prior to 2017, the birth rate in Xinjiang was basically stable at around 15 per 1,000 population, and the natural increase was basically stable at around 11 per 1,000 population. Despite the decline in birth rate and natural increase in 2018, Xinjiang's fertility rate (10.69‰) was basically the same as the national fertility rate (10.94‰) and its natural increase in population (6.13‰) was higher compared to the national average (3.81‰). The fertility rate of the Uyghur population (11.9‰) was higher than that of the entire Xinjiang population (10.69 per 1,000 population) and even higher than that of the Han population (9.42‰). Both the growth rate of the Uyghur population and the birth rate of the Xinjiang population were much higher than those of the entire Xinjiang and Han populations during the same period.

III. human rights situation in xinjiang
The system of regional ethnic autonomy is the basic political system in China, and Xinjiang is one of China's five autonomous regions. Since the establishment of the autonomous region, it has fully implemented the system of regional ethnic autonomy and the Party's ethnic policy, and fully ensured the rights of all ethnic groups in the political, economic and cultural fields. The people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have the greatest say in how Xinjiang develops and what the human rights situation is. In recent years, Xinjiang has seen steady economic development, social harmony and stability, continuous improvement in people's living conditions, unprecedented cultural flourishing, religious harmony and consensus, and a further increase in the sense of profit, happiness and security among the various ethnic groups.

Xinjiang borders areas in the world where terrorism and extremist forces are concentrated. For a period of time in the past, Xinjiang was seriously threatened by foreign terrorist forces, some extremist ideologies penetrated the region, and riot and terrorist forces planned and carried out thousands of terrorist incidents in Xinjiang, causing thousands of casualties among innocent people. In order to deal with the real threat posed by these forces and to ensure the safety of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the Muslim masses, the regional government has responded to the call by the United Nations contained in the Action Plan for the Prevention of Violent Extremism to use resources for development and education to curb extremist ideologies by by, on the one hand, firmly combating all forms of terrorist acts and, on the other hand, conducting preventive counter-terrorism and de-extremization education to eradicate the soil of terrorism at its source, with quite evident results. In the past seven years, there have been no further terrorist incidents in Xinjiang, and the security of the lives and property of residents of all ethnic groups has been firmly assured.

The issue related to Xinjiang is not a human rights issue at all, but rather an issue of combating violent extremism, deradicalisation and the fight against separatism. The manipulation of Xinjiang issues by some countries is essentially an attempt to undermine the prosperity and stability of the Xinjiang region and to limit China's development and recovery under the pretext of human rights. In recent years, nearly 100 countries, including a large number of Islamic countries, have publicly expressed their support for China's legitimate position on Xinjiang issues in the UN Human Rights Council, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and other forums, and against any interference in China's internal affairs through Xinjiang issues. The facts have repeatedly shown that the politicisation of human rights issues and double standards are unpopular and that efforts to suppress and contain China through Xinjiang issues will not succeed.

IV. Religious beliefs in Xinjiang
Historically, Xinjiang is an area where many religions coexist: Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Xinjiang fully implements the policy of freedom of religion, strengthens the administration of religious affairs in accordance with the law, regulates illegal religious activities and protects the religious needs and ordinary religious activities of the believing masses; the right of citizens to freedom of religion is effectively protected. Such activities as religious services, Buddha worship, masses, prayers and recitation of holy scriptures are taken care of by religious communities and citizens themselves and are protected by law. No organisation or individual may interfere; the Islamic Association of China has opened a website in Chinese and Uighur, so that anyone can study and learn about the religion in a legal way; on average, one in every 530 Muslims in Xinjiang owns a mosque; and more than 40 publications on Islam have been published in minority languages in Xinjiang; conditions in places of religious activity are improving steadily, and mosques are generally equipped with water, electricity, roads, gas, communications, radio and television broadcasting facilities, including medical services, electronic screens, computers, electric fans or air conditioning, fire-fighting equipment and drinking water facilities, which provide great convenience for worshippers.

V. The problem of so-called "forced labour" in Xinjiang
Xinjiang continues to improve people's living conditions by supporting projects that benefit the people, focusing on employment, social baking, etc. In 2022, 461,500 new jobs have been created in cities and towns, and 3,032,400 rural workers will go to work, including 1,087,000 people who have been lifted out of poverty. The social security system will be improved, with the number of people insured for old-age pension, unemployment and work accidents in the region reaching 15,842,700, 4,002,000 and 4,817,100 respectively.
All categories of workers in Xinjiang, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, or religion, shall enter into employment contracts with enterprises in accordance with the Labor Law, the Labor Contract Law, and other laws and regulations, and establish labor relations that are protected by law. The false information about so-called "forced labour" produced by some countries is completely at odds with the fact that the rights and interests of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang are effectively protected. For example, anti-Chinese forces have repeatedly discredited the use of "forced labor" in the cotton industry in Xinjiang, but the reality is that Xinjiang has adopted large-scale mechanized and industrialized production methods, with the rate of mechanical cotton picking in the whole region reaching 80 % in 2022, and the level of comprehensive mechanization of cotton sowing in most areas exceeding 98 %. In addition, in the past, there was a shortage of labor in Xinjiang during the cotton harvest season, and surplus labor from other provinces and cities on the mainland also came to Xinjiang to help with the harvest to increase income.

VI. The Question of "Ethnic Assimilation" in Xinjiang
Xinjiang has stepped up its efforts to promote the use of the common national language and script, while scientifically protecting the languages and scripts of different ethnic groups, respecting and protecting the teaching and use of minority languages and scripts, and promoting and encouraging the mutual teaching of languages and scripts of different ethnic groups. Minority languages and scripts are widely used in the fields of justice, administration, education, journalism and publishing, broadcasting, literature and the arts, and public affairs. Xinjiang publishes newspapers, books, audiovisual products and electronic publications in the common state language and in Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Mongolian and Xibe; the Xinjiang Daily is published in four languages; the Xinjiang Radio and Television Station has television programmes in four languages and radio programmes in five; portals at all levels and of all types are disseminated in a wide range of languages and scripts. The endangered Wisdom of Fule and the Turkic Dictionary have been translated and published; a range of folk oral literature, including the Kyrgyz epic Manas and the Mongolian epic Jangal, has been collected and published; and the Xinjiang Uyghur arts of Mukam, Manas and Meshrup have been inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. The customs and traditions of the various ethnic groups are fully respected, and the major ethnic minority festivals have become legal holidays for all ethnic groups throughout Xinjiang.

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