Abundant natural resources and geographical location form a
solid foundation for Xinjiang's economic growth in the coming
years, said Ismail
Tiliwaldi, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Tiliwaldi was speaking at a press conference Friday afternoon
during a break in the ongoing Third Session of the 10th
National People's Congress (NPC).
Tiliwaldi said that the western development campaign is the
engine driving Xinjiang's rapid advances. The region has reported
double-digit GDP growth in the past two years, while fiscal revenue
in 2004 reached 14.8 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), up 18
percent.
The campaign, which the central government launched in 1998, has
meant enormous capital investment in infrastructure construction in
western China: Xinjiang alone has nearly 100 projects on the
construction list. Its fixed asset investment in 2004 reached 120
billion yuan (US$14.5 billion), up 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion)
from the previous year.
Last year, the central government urged Xinjiang to accelerate
development on all fronts. President Hu Jintao assured the Xinjiang
delegation of NPC deputies when he met with them on March 8 that
the western development strategy would stay on course.
But Tiliwaldi is looking closely at the road ahead for Xinjiang.
"We need to transform our resource advantages into economic
advantages," he said.
Xinjiang has the largest oil, coal and natural gas reserves in
the country, accounting for 30 percent, 40 percent and 35 percent,
respectively, of the nation's total. It also produces a large share
of China's cotton, wool, sugar beets, grapes and tomatoes.
To optimize its advantages, the autonomous region plans to build
production bases for grain, cotton, livestock, forestry and
fruit.
Meanwhile, crude oil, natural gas and coal processing are listed
as pillar industries.
At least 10 senior executives from domestic oil and power giants
visited Xinjiang last year, Tiliwaldi said. Luneng Group, one of
China's power giants, plans to set up a thermal power to tap coal
resources there.
The 1,200-kilometer China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline, linking Atasu
in Kazakhstan to Dushanzi in Xinjiang, began operating in September
last year. The country's first major land oil-import route, it will
supply 10 million tons of crude oil annually when the final phase
is completed. At the beginning of this year, the China National
Petroleum Corporation got the green light to expand its refinery
capacity at Dushanzi.
Xinjiang is centrally located in the Eurasian continent, on the
northwest frontier of China. It shares borders with eight other
countries, and 16 Class A land ports are scattered along its
5,600-kilometer boundary.
Six of the neighboring counties -- Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan -- are members
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an
intergovernmental organization originally focusing on regional
security. At last year's Tashkent summit, the SCO member countries
agreed to make economic cooperation a focus as well, which provides
huge opportunities for Xinjiang's border trade.
In 2004, Xinjiang's foreign trade totaled about 5.3 billion yuan
(US$640.9 million), up 15 percent from the previous year, and the
figure is expected to rise further.?
The local government will reconstruct the railway in Alataw Pass
to facilitate transportation capacity, Tiliwaldi said.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, March 12,
2005)
