Northwest China's
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a priority area in the
development program for west China, will make greater contributions
to maintaining national energy security and social stability,
according to the regional chairman, Ismail
Tiliwaldi, on Tuesday.
Tiliwaldi and his delegation are attending the ongoing Fourth
Plenary Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC)
that began on March 5 in Beijing.
According to statistics, Xinjiang achieved rapid growth in gross
domestic product (GDP), fixed-asset investment, fiscal revenue,
trade volume and residents' income last year.
Table: Basic Figures of Xinjiang in 2005
?
|
Value (yuan) |
Growth Rate (%) |
| GDP |
268 billion? |
8.9 |
| Fixed-asset investment? |
135 billion? |
16.4 |
| Fiscal revenue? |
39.7 billion? |
22.8 |
| Trade value? |
63.84?billion? |
40.9 |
| Net income of residents? |
8,100 |
8 |
| Average income of farmers and herdsmen? |
2,475? |
10.2 |
"The region's oil, natural gas and coal deposits account for 30
percent, 30 percent and 40 percent respectively of the country's
total," Tiliwaldi said.
Statistics show that annual oil output in Xinjiang has surpassed
20 million tons, ranking the third among all the provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions and meeting one-tenth of the
country's demand.
"What's more, the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline (that runs from
Atasu to the Alataw Pass) that was completed last December makes it
possible for China to utilize more resources from Central Asian
countries," Tiliwaldi said.
As a complementary project, "an oil refinery factory with a
capacity of 10 million tons is under construction in Dushanzi, and
will put into production in 2007."
Further, the completion of the
West-East Gas Pipeline Project in 2005 means that natural gas
obtained in Xinjiang now can be directly transported to Shanghai
and other eastern coastal areas.
"The development of coal resources in Xinjiang is comparatively
behind in terms of exploitation, and needs a further boost. We will
try to implement the West-East Electricity Transmission Program as
soon as possible to supply coal-fired electricity to power-strained
eastern regions.
"Xinjiang aims to establish the country's biggest oil and
natural gas base and build a great land passage of energy."
Tiliwaldi also pointed out that Xinjiang has developed an
environment conducive to attracting foreign and domestic
investment.
In 2005, Xinjiang received 350,000 foreign and 14.65 million
domestic tourists. In addition, the region employed over 200
skilled foreigners. It is also becoming increasingly popular with
foreign students.
"These encouraging figures show that Xinjiang provides a good
social as well as business environment."
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, March 9, 2006)
