The rapid development of the petroleum, natural gas and petrochemical industry has met the demand of Xinjiang's economic development for energy and petrochemicals. It has also given strong impetus to the development of the machine-building, transportation, telecommunications, construction, electricity, water conservancy, food, textiles, chemicals, plastics, rubber and pharmaceuticals industries, as well as agriculture; stimulated the growth of service trades; and produced a great impact on the formation and improvement of Xinjiang's regional economic structure. As a result, there has been a great increase in the number of people employed. Since 1994, with the operation of the Tarim Oilfield, the annual increase of employment in the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture alone has exceeded 18 percent. Meanwhile, the process of urbanization has revved up. New oil-producing cities have mushroomed on the barren sands of the Gobi Desert, such as Karamay, Dushanzi (Maytag), Fudong and Zepu (Poskam). The modernization drive is going ahead apace in such cities as Urumqi, Korla, Fukang and Luntai. Local economic development has been effectively supported. The large oilfields in Xinjiang, such as Karamay, Tuha and Tarim, and major petrochemical enterprises in Zepu, Dushanzi, Urumqi and Karamay, fully using their human resources and financial and technological advantages, have aided local enterprises and invested in local construction. The Desert Petroleum Highway, which runs from north to south across the Taklimakan Desert, was built with an investment of 785 million yuan from the Tarim Oilfield. The development of the petroleum, natural gas and petrochemical industries in Xinjiang has boosted Xinjiang's revenues considerably. The west-to-east natural gas transmission project alone will increase Xinjiang's yearly revenue by over 1 billion yuan, making a great contribution to promoting the development of various undertakings in the autonomous region.

Making preferential policies to promote Xinjiang's development. Since the founding of New China, and especially since the reform and opening-up started some 20 years ago, the Central Government has drawn up economic development and other policies tilted in favor of Xinjiang. Relevant regulations on the strategy of opening up the border areas have been promulgated, providing eight preferential policies for enlarging the opening up of the western areas, including Xinjiang. The Central Government also encourages the construction of grain and cotton production bases in Xinjiang, the building of shelter-forests in north, northeast and northwest China, and the construction of desertification control projects. The Central Government requires that preferential policies for aiding economic development in the impoverished areas be carried out; border highways be built and supportive highway facilities at border checkpoints improved; comprehensive control of the ecosystem and water resources of the Tarim River be accelerated, with priority given to Xinjiang when arranging projects for exploiting resources and infrastructure construction; standard transfer payment system be adopted for the central budget, to gradually strengthen financial support and increase the proportion of state policy-based loans, loans from international financial organizations and those from foreign governments. In 2001, the Central Government promulgated the Notice of Opinions on the Implementation of Some Policies and Measures for the Great Development of China's West, which provided 68 concrete preferential policies in 18 aspects. According to these provisions, the government of the autonomous region formulated and promulgated the Suggestions of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Issues Concerning the Preferential Tax Policy in the Great Development of China's West, providing 10 concrete preferential tax policies to attract domestic and international enterprises, as well as farmers and ranchers to participate in investing in and operating projects concerning Xinjiang's social infrastructure, eco-environmental protection, hi-tech industry and industries with special potentials and local characteristics.

Dispatching and training first-class professional and technical personnel for Xinjiang. Since the founding of New China, considering Xinjiang's remoteness, backwardness and shortage of high-caliber personnel, the state has assigned, transferred or encouraged over 800,000 intellectuals and professional and technical personnel from inland regions to work in Xinjiang. Large numbers of university graduates, scientists, technicians and highly-trained professionals have been assigned to Xinjiang. Working in such fields as industry, agriculture, education, culture, scientific research, medical care and health, these people have made outstanding contributions to the modernization of Xinjiang.

Since 1989, with arrangements made by the Central Government, more than 80 institutions of higher learning in the hinterland have extended their support to Xinjiang by enrolling from among Xinjiang's ethnic minorities 10,000 university and junior college students, 640 postgraduate students for specific posts or work units, 860 teachers and education administration personnel, and 1,400 business administration personnel, as well as sending a number of ethnic-minority visiting scholars abroad for advanced studies. Since 2000, the 12 better-developed cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian, Qingdao, Ningbo, Suzhou and Wuxi have run special Xinjiang classes in their key provincial-level senior high schools, with an annual enrolment of 1,540 ethnic-minority students who enjoy local government subsidies.

Xinjiang has received strong support from other provinces, autonomous regions and centrally administered municipalities around China. During the past few decades, other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have provided immense amounts of aid for Xinjiang in terms of technology and skilled people. Considering the backwardness of the industrial enterprises in Xinjiang, the Central Government has moved some enterprises and factories from more developed areas along the southeast coast to Xinjiang, transferred engineers and technicians from the inland areas to newly established key enterprises in Xinjiang, and sent large numbers of specially picked ethnic-minority workers from Xinjiang to study and practice in advanced enterprises in the inland areas, resulting in the growth of a big contingent of leading engineers and technicians for Xinjiang in a very short period of time. Since the introduction of the policies of reform and opening up and with the gradual establishment of a socialist market economic system, economic and technological cooperation and exchanges, and the interflow of highly qualified personnel between Xinjiang and other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have kept expanding. A new market-oriented pattern of aiding Xinjiang's economic and social development has shaped up, with capital investment as the bond, "material and human resources interflow" as the characteristic, and mutual complementarity as the principle. In recent years, in particular, in conformity with the requirements of the Central Government, over 20 better-developed provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong and Zhejiang, have paired up with and provided aid for various prefectures and cities in Xinjiang in relevant fields, with fruitful results.

Conclusion

With leadership and support by the Central Government, and through over 50 years of arduous efforts by the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, the autonomous region has made historic and outstanding achievements in its economic and social development. However, as Xinjiang is located in China's northwest border, with rough natural conditions and a weak economic foundation, it is still faced with many difficulties in developing its public undertakings, such as education, culture and medical care and health. And there is still the onerous task of raising the living standard of the people of all ethnic groups. It is the common wish of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, as well as the strategic plan of the Central Government, to speed up Xinjiang's development.

In 1999, the Central Government made an important decision to implement the western development strategy, which provides a rare historical opportunity for Xinjiang's development. The autonomous region has drawn up its 10th Five-Year Plan and a development plan for the period up to 2010, in accordance with the state's general plan on implementing this strategy. According to this plan, by 2005 the GDP of the entire region should reach 210 billion yuan (calculated on the prices in 2000), with an annual growth rate of 9 percent and the GDP per capita of over 10,000 yuan; the investment in fixed assets should reach 420 billion yuan; the annual growth of urban residents' disposable income per capita should reach around 7 percent and farmers' net income per capita should increase by 150 yuan each year; the average housing floorage per capita of urban residents should reach 23 square meters, and the living environment, housing quality and hygienic conditions of rural residents should be greatly improved. It is planned that, by 2010, the autonomous region's GDP should be at least double that of 2000, and the people should be much better off.

The prospects for Xinjiang's economic and social development are bright. With the support of the Central Government and other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, through arduous efforts, will build their autonomous region into an even more beautiful and prosperous place.