Religious personages are guaranteed access to scriptures and other religious publications. A number of Islamic classics and religious books and magazines, including the Koran, Selected Works of Waez and A New Collection of Waez's Speeches, as well as the religious classics of Buddhism, Christianity and other religions in various editions and in the Uygur, Kazak and Han languages have been translated, published and distributed in Xinjiang. China's Muslims, a journal in the Uygur and Han languages, is widely read. For religious believers' convenience, stores specializing in selling religious publications have been set up in various parts of Xinjiang with government endorsement.

Normal religious activities are protected by law. The government of the autonomous region has formulated and promulgated the Provisional Regulations on the Administration of Religious Activity Venues in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and other regulations in accordance with the Constitution and the law. Religious believers carry out normal religious activities in line with the canons and rituals of their respective faiths, under the protection of the law. In recent years, the reincarnation of Living Buddhas has been successfully completed: tens of thousands of Muslims have made pilgrimages to Mecca as their living standards have improved; and students of Muslim colleges have taken part with great success in competitions for recitation of the Koran held both at home and abroad.

IX. Establishment, Development and Role of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps

The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), established in 1954, assumes the duties of cultivating and guarding the frontier areas entrusted to it by the state. It is a special social organization, which handles its own administrative and judicial affairs within the reclamation areas under its administration, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the state and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and with economic planning directly supervised by the state. It is subordinated to the dual leadership of the Central Government and the People's Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Also known as the China Xinjian Group, the XPCC has 14 divisions (reclamation areas), 174 regimental agricultural and stockbreeding farms, 4,391 industrial, construction, transport and commercial enterprises, and well-run social undertakings covering scientific research, education, culture, health, sports, finance and insurance, as well as judiciary organs. The XPCC has a total population of over 2.45 million, including 933,000 workers.

The XPCC was established against a special historical background. In 1949, Xinjiang was peacefully liberated. To consolidate border defense, accelerate Xinjiang's development, and reduce the economic burden on local governments and the local people of all ethnic groups, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) units stationed in Xinjiang focused their efforts on production and construction, starting large-scale production and construction projects. By 1954, after making arduous pioneering and enterprising efforts, 34 farms and eight pastures had been constructed, with a total cultivated area of 77,200 hectares. The farm and stockbreeding products yielded not only provided for the logistic needs of the troops stationed in Xinjiang, but the PLA units had also set up a number of modern industrial, mining and commercial enterprises, as well as schools, hospitals and other institutions.

In October 1954, the Central People's Government ordered most of the PLA units in Xinjiang to be transferred to local civilian work by the unit, and be separated from the setups of national defense forces to form a production and construction corps, whose missions were to carry out both production and militia duties, and cultivate and guard border areas. Starting from May 1956, the XPCC was subordinated to the dual leadership of the Ministry of State Farms and Land Reclamation and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China has a centuries-old tradition of developing and protecting its border areas by stationing troops to cultivate and guard the frontier areas. According to historical records, all the dynasties in Chinese history adopted the practice of stationing troops to cultivate and guard frontier areas as an important state policy for developing border areas and consolidating frontier defense. The beginning of this practice by the central authorities on a massive scale in Xinjiang can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty, to be subsequently carried on from generation to generation. This policy had played an important historical role in uniting the nation, consolidating frontier defense and promoting social and economic development in Xinjiang. The decision of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China in 1954 to establish the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps represented a continuation and development of this historical experience in the new historical conditions.

The XPCC grew in strength through arduous pioneering efforts. Since its founding, the XPCC has taken it upon itself to reclaim land, guard the border areas and work for the well-being of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. It has followed the line of combining the efforts of workers, farmers, merchants, students and soldiers; overall development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production and fisheries; and comprehensive operation of industry, communications, commerce, construction and services.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, following the principle of "not competing for benefits with the local people," the XPCC built water conservancy works and reclaimed wasteland along the edges of the Taklimakan and Gurban-Tonggut deserts to the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, respectively, and along the borders where the natural environment was adverse. Now they have built up ecologically sound economic networks of oases, with contiguous fields, crisscrossing canals, ubiquitous forest belts and radiating roads. Starting by processing agricultural and sideline products, the XPCC developed modern industry and gradually formed a multi-sector industrial system with light and textile industries as the main part and supplemented by iron and steel, coal, building materials, electricity, chemicals and machinery industries. With these projects in full swing, the XPCC saw its education, science and technology, culture and other undertakings follow suit. By the end of 1966, all the XPCC's undertakings had developed to a rather high level.