Sustained Economic Momentum

Fu Penggang moved to Xinjiang from Shenzhen in Guangdong Province four years ago and now works in the information services industry. “Benefiting from the Eastern Data and Western Computing project, we gain business opportunities including building data centers, server rooms and network security systems,” Fu told Xinjiang Today.

Under the project, which was launched in 2022 and aims to channel more computing resources from China’s eastern areas to its less developed western regions, Xinjiang launched the construction of eight key computing network projects last year.

In 2024, Xinjiang’s first intelligent computing center was also put into operation in Karamay City, 280 km away from the regional capital of Urumqi.

In recent years, Xinjiang, a region renowned for its cotton production, has been proving itself as a powerhouse of more than just agriculture, growing new industries that bring it closer to China’s forefront of economic transition.

The region has advanced its economic diversification through the development of 10 Major Industrial Clusters, an initiative designed to harness its natural resources and geographical advantages. These clusters, spanning industries such as oil and gas, green mining, new materials, textiles, agricultural processing, culture and tourism, renewable energy and logistics, reflect Xinjiang’s ambition to transition from a resource-dependent economy to a modern, innovation-driven industrial hub. By integrating cutting-edge technologies, fostering international cooperation and emphasizing sustainable development, Xinjiang is positioning itself as a critical player in China’s broader push for high-quality economic growth.

Multiple industries

Most of China’s data centers are distributed in the eastern regions at present, and the shortages of land and energy in these regions pose a challenge to the sustained development of the facilities. In contrast, China’s western regions are abundant in land and energy, especially renewable energy, and have the potential to nurture the development of data centers and meet eastern regions’ needs for data storage, processing and analysis.

As of December 31, 2024, Xinjiang’s total installed capacity of new-energy power generation had reached 104.8 million kilowatts (kw), making it the first provincial-level region in west China to surpass the 100-million-kw mark. In recent years, Xinjiang has been vigorously developing its green energy industry and continuously advancing energy structure adjustments. Large-scale wind and photovoltaic power base projects have been rapidly built in deserts and other arid areas. The region has established three 10-million-kw new-energy bases in Hami and Changji in north Xinjiang, and the Tarim Basin in south Xinjiang, along with more than 10 1-million-kw new-energy bases.

“I am also satisfied with the lifestyle here,” Fu said, adding that Xinjiang has a lot of great places to visit and he has traveled to many of them.

This winter season, the Jiangjun Mountain International Ski Resort in Altay Prefecture has been attracting flocks of visitors from across the country, including Fu, with videos of its scenery going viral on social media and many netizens expressing in the comments their desire to visit.

Elsewhere in Xinjiang, winter tourism is also thriving. In Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, for instance, the Narat Grassland, a tourist mecca in summer, when visitors can enjoy breathtaking meadow landscapes, has been transformed into a ski resort.

The prefecture is located in the Ili River Valley, with its capital Yining some 690 km west of Urumqi. The Ili River flows through mountains before emptying into Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan. Narat, which means “formidable horse” in Kazak, is where Kazak herders traditionally graze their animals.

In Zhaosu, a county in Ili, horses are a big draw for tourists. The county, nestled in China’s far west on the border with Kazakhstan, is not only home to the renowned Ili horse, also known as the Tianma (“heavenly horse”), but also raises imported breeds, including the Akhal-Teke, a national treasure of Turkmenistan.

Kang Zuliang, head of the Tianma Cultural Park in Zhaosu, said there is great potential for the county to make the most of its exclusive Tianma culture, which has a history of some 2,000 years. The iconic view of horses dashing through the snow captivates many tourists.

However, it still has to overcome some challenges to boost winter tourism. Xinjiang is in the westernmost part of China, so visitors from densely populated eastern regions will have to incur higher transportation costs.

In addition to improving infrastructure, Xinjiang still needs outside-the-box ideas, Kang said. For example, the cultural park is considering opening an area equipped with virtual reality simulators to familiarize visitors with horses and give them the courage to hop on and ride one.

Data from the local culture and tourism authority in Altay Prefecture, a thriving ski destination, showed that the Jiangjun Mountain International Ski Resort welcomed over 600,000 visitors from November 2024 to January this year, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent.

In recent years, the ice and snow industry in Xinjiang has developed rapidly, with related consumption registering fast growth. In December 2024, the Xinjiang regional government released an action plan, which aims to achieve a total ice and snow industry output value of 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) by 2030, positioning Xinjiang as north China’s “ice and snow economy hub of international renown.”

Xinjiang’s entire culture and tourism sector is also on an upward trajectory. Last year, 302 million tourist trips were made to and within Xinjiang, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent All major tourism indicators hit record highs, propelling Xinjiang into position as one of the most popular tourist destinations in China.

“Industrial transformation is improving both quality and efficiency of Xinjiang’s economy with increasing speed,” Lei Haijun, Director of the Xinjiang Bureau of Statistics, told a press conference on Xinjiang’s 2024 economic performance on January 23. The region has been developing new quality productive forces featuring high technology, high efficiency and high quality and fostering strategic emerging industries. In 2024, the added value of enterprises with an annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) or more in Xinjiang’s strategic emerging industries increased by 21.6 percent year on year.

Last year, Xinjiang accelerated the implementation of major projects, such as the expansion and renovation of the international airport in Urumqi and further increasing Xinjiang’s outbound power transmission, Lei said.

Xinjiang transmitted over 126.4 billion kilowatt-hours of locally generated electricity to other parts of the country in 2024, hitting a record high, according to the Xinjiang Power Exchange Center. The region is rich in energy sources, including wind and solar power, and has power generation capacity in excess of its own needs. Since 2010, locally generated electricity has been delivered to 22 provincial-level regions across the country.

Development advantages

In 2024, Xinjiang’s regional GDP grew 6.1 percent year on year, surpassing 2 trillion yuan ($280 billion).

Driving growth across sectors in Xinjiang is the region’s emphasis on investment promotion, breakthroughs in which are closely linked to its distinctive geographical position, rich resources, favorable policies and strengthening economic foundations.

Xinjiang is one of China’s most agriculturally productive regions and it is China’s largest and one of the world’s most important producers of cotton. Its cotton output approached 5.69 million tons in 2024, accounting for 92.2 percent of the national total.

The region aims to maintain a cotton output of over 5 million tons this year, increase the quantity and quality of the cotton yarn it produces, and expand its textile and apparel supply chain, Erkin Tuniyaz, Chairman of the regional government of Xinjiang, said while delivering a government work report at the annual session of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional People’s Congress, the regional legislature, on January 19.

In 2024, the region’s cotton and textile industry generated an output value of 220 billion yuan ($33.6 billion) and provided jobs for over 1 million people, the report read. The cotton industry in Xinjiang has also become more mechanized and intelligent, with machines used to plant 100 percent and pick 90 percent of all cotton, according to the regional cotton association.

Additionally, Xinjiang’s total grain output reached a record 23.3 million tons last year, elevating the region to 13th place in China’s grain production rankings. Grain yield per hectare rose to 7,875 kg, earning Xinjiang the top national ranking for the first time, Erkin said.

Xinjiang is also the largest producer of seed for growing corn, a major grain crop, in China, producing a third of the nation’s total, She Yahui, a deputy to the Xinjiang regional people’s congress and President of Joinhope Seed Co. Ltd., a local seed company, told the media on January 19.

With the continued development of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to boost connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes, and the implementation of the country’s Western Development Strategy, Xinjiang has made notable progress in infrastructure construction, industrial transformation and upgrading, and international cooperation. These advancements have provided strong support for investment promotion efforts. For example, the China-Europe Railway Express, a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, has seen a significant uptick in operations, with 7,746 train trips passing through the Huoerguosi (also spelt Khorgas or Horgos) Port and the Alashankou (Alataw) Pass in the region’s northwest in the first half of 2024, a rise of 8.2 percent year on year. These two ports of entry handle 40 percent of the China-Europe freight train trips.

In 2024, Xinjiang implemented thousands of investment promotion projects, introducing foreign investment of over 900 billion yuan ($123 billion), a year-on-year increase of 11 percent.

The ongoing industrial transfer from coastal regions has led many factories and companies to move their operations to Xinjiang, resulting in the creation of job opportunities for the local population. In Aksu Prefecture in south Xinjiang, amid the increasing presence of relocated factories, the supply of frontline factory workers falls short of demand, making flexible employment widely available across the prefecture, local officials told Xinjiang Today.