Nineteen provinces invest billions toward Xinjiang’s education development since 2012

Since 2012, 19 provinces and municipalities involved in paired assistance with the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have invested a combined 37.56 billion yuan ($5.27 billion) toward education development, according to Xinjiang's education department.

More than 4,600 projects have been implemented to improve education quality, and around 22,100 exchange teachers have been sent to the region.

More than 3,700 exchange teachers, 1,000 veteran teachers, and some 4,200 volunteer college students participating in China's Far West Program are teaching there now.

Xu Gaoyong, deputy director of Xinjiang's education department, called the scale of investment, the number of participants, and the achievements made during this period unprecedented. "Education support for Xinjiang has steadily advanced and deepened, contributing significantly to breakthrough progress in the region's education sector," he said.

Xu noted that the central government, along with the 19 paired provinces and municipalities, have facilitated exchanges between Xinjiang students and their peers nationwide. Around 22,000 Xinjiang students have participated in study tours in Beijing and other parts of China since 2023.

Since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), 17.72 billion yuan has been spent to improve primary and secondary schools, which has led to narrowed gaps between urban and rural areas.

The number of universities in Xinjiang increased from 39 in 2012 to 66 in 2025. In 2024, undergraduate education was made available across all five prefectures and autonomous prefectures in southern Xinjiang.

"Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xinjiang has experienced a rapid pace of adjustment in the layout and structure of higher education, resulting in significant achievements," Xu said. "Its role in supporting the building of a socialist modernized Xinjiang has become increasingly evident, and these efforts are a crucial component of aid to Xinjiang."

Supported by the Ministry of Education, the region began construction on the Xinjiang Institute for Advanced Studies in May, which will bring together local universities and higher education institutions and enterprises across China to promote talent cultivation, scientific research, technology transfer, and international exchange and cooperation in energy and mining, modern agriculture in arid areas, traditional Chinese medicine, and international healthcare.

Meanwhile, the region is strengthening international education cooperation. There are thousands of international students in Xinjiang, most of whom come from Central Asian countries, he said.

In May, the inaugural China-Central Asia Education Ministers' Meeting was held in Urumqi, the regional capital, during which the China-Central Asia Industry-Education Integration Alliance was launched. In June, a dedicated center was established in Xinjiang to strengthen educational cooperation between China and Central Asian countries.

Xinjiang is also promoting vocational education cooperation, with Urumqi Vocational University and Mukhamedzhan Tynyshbayev ALT University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, having co-launched a Luban Workshop to provide vocational training.

"Xinjiang's educational progress has fully demonstrated the strengths of the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system," Xu said, adding that it is through the joint efforts of the central and regional government, numerous educators from Xinjiang, and the 19 paired provinces and municipalities that Xinjiang is experiencing a golden period of educational development.