Xinjiang prospers at fast track

The uptick in tourism, foreign investment and job creation in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has exposed the hollowness of the so-called "Uygur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019" passed by the House of Representatives in the United States.

The consistent propaganda by the West, especially by US officials, media and think tanks, ramped up with the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, the signature project proposed by President Xi Jinping to develop the shared future of mankind based on win-win situation.

Xinjiang, a resource-rich region, is emerging as a magnet for investors for its unique position on the Silk Road.

In 2013, China proposed the BRI, which opened up new space for the world economy, spurring trade and economic growth and stimulating investment and creating jobs worldwide.

As per a recent report, foreign trade in Xinjiang is witnessing booming growth. The region recorded around 131.5 billion yuan in imports and exports in the first 10 months of this year, up 28 percent year-on-year.

In the first 10 months, Kazakhstan topped the list of Xinjiang's major trade partners, with trade volume between the two growing by 28.2 percent to 60.2 billion yuan.

Xinjiang's trade with Kyrgyzstan, Australia, Pakistan, Britain, Argentina and Vietnam also showed fast growth, according to the local customs authorities.

The business-friendly policies introduced by the leadership has helped Xinjiang to establish more than 1.8 million market entities, including 359,000 enterprises, up 18 percent year-on-year.

Recently, the regional government achieved the goal of relocating a total of 169,400 people from 40,146 households from the plateau, mountain and desert areas to new houses built with government subsidies in oases and plain areas in five years from 2016 to 2020.

The peaceful environment has created more than 100,000 jobs for poor residents in the past two years.

The number of tourists both domestic and foreign to the region exceeded 200 million starting from January to October this year, up 42.62 percent year-on-year, local authorities said.

The tourism revenue in the first 10 months of 2019 reached 341.73 billion yuan ($48.7 billion), up 43.39 percent from the same period last year, reaching a record high, according to the regional culture and tourism department.

From 2014 to 2018, the region lifted over 2.3 million people above the poverty line, defined by a per capita annual income of 2,300 yuan ($324) at 2010 prices.

The poverty rate in the region is now at 6 percent. By next year, these remaining people are expected to be taken off the impoverished list.

The development in the various sectors of the region is being ignored intentionally by the West, but the West cannot hide these facts forever.

These achievements show that Xinjiang has emerged as a peaceful region for both locals and foreigners.

It must be clear now that Xinjiang is a place where many ethnic groups live peacefully together.

The unique diversity of the region is offering potential of development under the BRI framework with other countries sharing the connectivity corridors through different means.

The most prominent corridor under the BRI framework is China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that will connect China's Kashgar city in Xinjiang province with Pakistan's Gwadar port.

The US or others carrying the anti-China agenda cannot discredit the achievements of Xinjiang or downplay its importance in BRI.

The bills passed by the US government cannot fool the international community who are witnessing the real developments and achievements of the region.

The fast-track developments witnessed in the region prove that Xinjiang will play an important and significant role in pushing forward the cooperative development based on mutual cooperation and consultations under the BRI.

It has become evident that the measures taken by central and provincial government in fighting extremism and terrorism have been proved to be effective. The region has not seen any violent attack in the past three years, which has enhanced the confidence of international community on Xinjiang.

The critics looking with tinted glasses cannot derail the peaceful development of the region.

The author is a journalist with Independent News Pakistan, a leading news agency in Pakistan and media fellow of China Asia and Asia Pacific press center.