10.7.2001

 

XINJIANG UYGUR AUTONOMOUS REGION（新疆維吾爾自治區）

 

Economic Indicators

	1999		2000
Economic Indicators	Value	Growth	Value	Growth
		(%, y-o-y)		(%, y-o-y)
Area (sq km)	1,650,000	--	1,660,400	-
Population (mn)	17.7	1.1	19.3
Gross Domestic Product (RMB bn)	116.9	7.1*	135.6	8.2*
Per Capita GDP (RMB)	6,653	3.4	7,433
Disposable Income Per Capita
- urban (RMB)	5,320	6.4	5,870	8.1
- rural (RMB)	1,473	-7.9	1,620	8.0
Fixed-assets Investment (RMB bn)	44.4	2.8	52.0	17.1
Added Value Output
- primary industry (RMB bn)	27.2	-6.1	28.8	4.8
- secondary industry (RMB bn)	46.1	5.3	58.7	9.0
- tertiary industry (RMB bn)	43.8	13.1	49.0	10.4
Retail Sales (RMB bn)	34.7	3.1	37.5	7.8
Inflation (Consumer Price Index,%)	-2.6		-0.6
Exports (US$ bn)	1.0	53.2	1.2	14.4
- by FIEs (US$ bn)	0.1	13.4	0.1	-5.4
Imports (US$ bn)	1.0	-4.4	1.4	45.3
- by FIEs (US$ bn)	0.04	46.3	0.02	-45.5
Foreign Direct Investment
- number of projects	52	13.0	58	11.5
- contracted amount (US$ bn)	0.06	-55.5	0.09	49.8
- utilized amount (US$ bn)	0.02	10.9	0.02

Notes:  * In Renminbi real terms                     

Sources: Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook and State Statistical Bureau, 2000 statistics are preliminary figures based on press reports.

 

General Background

 

Xinjiang - abbreviated as Xin（新）- is located in the Northwest region.  Xinjiang is the largest autonomous region of China.  Separated by the Tianshan Mountain（天山）, Xinjiang is divided into NanJiang（南疆）, BeiJiang（北疆）and DongJiang（東疆）.  The world's largest inland basin － Tarim basin（塔里木盆地）, and the second largest float desert － Takla Makan Desert（塔克拉瑪干沙漠）are found in the region.  The region's capital is Urumqi（烏魯木齊）which enjoys the same preferential policies as a coastal city.

 

Major ethnic groups in the region are Uygur（維吾爾）and Han（漢）, accounting for 47% and 39% of the region's population respectively.  Other ethnic groups include Kazak（哈薩克）, Hui（回）, Kirgiz（柯爾克孜）, Mongolian（蒙古）, Tatar（塔塔爾）, Daur（達幹爾）, Xibe（錫伯）, Russian（俄羅斯）, Tajik（塔吉克）and Uzbek（烏孜別克）.

 

Xinjiang is China's largest growing base of cotton and hops.  Output of cotton and hops in 1999 accounted for 33% and 80% of the country’s total respectively.  With the second largest pastureland, the region is one of the major sheep farming areas and fine-wool producers in China.  It provides more than 40% of the country's total fine-sheep wool output and its milk production in the region ranked the fourth in China in 1999.  Besides, Xinjiang is a major agricultural base of grain, sugarbeet and fruits, of which, Yining apples, Korla pears, seedless white grapes and Hami melon are famous at home and abroad.

 

Xinjiang is rich in energy resources.  It has the largest reserves of oil, natural gas and coal in the country.  Its coal reserves reach 27 million tons (40% of the country’s total) and oil reserves amount to 30 billion tons.  Crude oil output which reached 17.4 million tons in 1999 was the third highest in the country.  The oil and gas reserves found in Tarim, Junggar and Turpan-Hami basins in the region account for one-fourth and one-third of the country's total.

 

Xinjiang's reserves of mineral resources are great as well.  The region's reserves of beryllium（鈹） and mica（雲母） are the highest in China.  Some of the region’s granite products such as “Xinjiang Red,” Tianshan White” and “Snowflower Black” are famous brands in the country.  The country’s largest copper mine is also found in Xinjiang.  There are 100 locations with a total of over 1 billion cubic metres of proven granite reserves.

 

Infrastructure

 

Railways － The region is mainly served by the LanXin line（蘭新線: Lanzhou-Xinjiang 蘭州－新疆）which links up with the Longhai line（隴海線: Lanzhou-Lianyungang 蘭州－連雲港）and the NanJiang line（南疆線 : Korla- Kashi庫爾勒－喀什）.  Construction of Qinxin line（青新線: Gulmod in Qinghai and Korla in Xinjiang）is under planning stage.

 

Highways － By the end of 2000, the total length of roads and highways in the region reached 35,600 kilometres, covering over 99% of the counties, townships and villages.  Major highways include TurUDai（吐烏大: Turpan-Urumqi-Daihuangshan 吐魯番－烏魯木齊－大黃山）, U-Kui Expressway（烏奎 : Urumqi-Kuitun 烏魯木齊－奎屯）, LanXin line（蘭新線: Lanzhou-Xinjiang 蘭州－新疆）, QinXin line（青新線: Qinghai-Xinjiang 青海－新疆）and XinTibet line（新藏線: Xinjiang-Tibet 新疆－西藏）.

 

Air Transport － The Urumqi Airport has flight services to 59 international and domestic destinations including Ningbo, Shenyang, Xi'an, Moscow, Saberian, Islamabad, etc.  The reconstruction of the Yili Airport in 1998 and the Karsh Airport in 1999 have improved the aviation services of Xinjiang. 

 

Xinjiang Airlines has signed an agreement with a Hong Kong company in March 2001 to start the first direct-chartered flight between Urumqi and Hong Kong.  According to the agreement, there will be one return flights on every Saturday from June 24 to October 6, 2001.

 

Telecommunications － Program-controlled telephones are available in 98% of township and 52% of administrative villages in Xinjiang.  At present, there are about 1.7 million telephone users in the region.  Direct dial service to Hong Kong and other major cities in the world is available.  Mobile phone service is increasingly popular, at end-1999, there were 180,000 mobile phone users in Urumqi. 

 

Xinjiang built a digital microwave telecommunications trunk which links cities on both sides of the Tianshan Mountain, an fiberoptic cable system leading to neighbouring countries with a total length of 25,000 kilometres, and 10 satellite ground stations.  The region has also setup a digital data network, a conference TV system, a smart terminal and a multi-media network.  The number of data transmission users has risen to 105,000.

 

Wind Power － More than 200 power-generating units are in operation at the wind power centre in Dabancheng（大板城）.  The generating capacity of the center makes up one-third of the total installed wind power capacity in the country.

 

Gas Supply － Under China's energy development strategy, a major gas pipeline running from the Tarim Basin to Shanghai with a total length of 4,167 kilometers will start construction in the last quarter of 2001.  The pipeline which runs through Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, will be able to transmit 12 billion cubic metre of gas annually from the west to the east upon completion by end-2003.

 

Industries

 

In 2000, total added value of industrial output of the region was Rmb42.2 billion, increased by 9% over 1999.  Urumqi, Karamai（克拉瑪依）, Korla（庫爾勒）and Tulufan are some of the major industrial production centres in the region.

 

Heavy industries like oil, petrochemicals and coal production formed a fundamental part of Xinjiang’s industrial development, accounting for 69% of the region’s total industrial output in 1999.  Besides, the region has developed light industries like textiles and garments (especially wool and cashmere), leather processing, paper making, sugar refining and carpet weaving.  The Xinjiang’s government targets to accelerate development of information, biotech, energy and environmental protection industries in the 10^th Five-Year Plan period.

 

Tourism

 

Situated in the middle of the Silk Road, Xinjiang has abundant cultural and historical relics at Kashi, Gaochang（高昌）, Jiaohe（交河）and Loulan（樓蘭）.  Other famous touristic spots include Tianshan Mountain, Tianchi Lake（天池）, Bizaklik Thousand-Buddha Caves（克孜爾千佛洞）, Flaming Mountains（火焰山）, etc.

 

In 2000, about 240,000 overseas tourists and 7.6 million domestic tourists visited the region and generated total revenue of US$93 million (+10%) and Rmb6.4 billion (+14%) respectively.

 

Consumer Market

 

Retail sales of consumer goods in the whole region rose by 7.8% to Rmb37.5 billion in 2000.  In Urumqi, which is the largest consumer centre in the region, recorded Rmb10.7 billion retail sales of consumer goods in the first 11 months of 2000, an increase of 11.5% from the same period in 1999.

 

Major department stores and shopping centres in Xinjiang include Urumqi Tianshan Department Store（烏魯木齊市天山百貨大樓）, Urumqi Youhao Department Store（烏魯木齊市友好商場股份有限公司）, Xinjiang Department Store（新疆百貨大樓）, Hongshan Shopping Arcade（紅山商場）, Urumqi Dashizi Commercial Building（烏市大十字商業大廈）, Tulufan Department Store（吐魯番百貨站）, Hami Department Store（哈密百貨站）and Xinjian Shengchan Jianshe Bingtuan Department Store（新疆生產建設兵團百貨公司）.

 

Foreign Trade

Xinjiang's exports rose by 14.4% amounting to US$1.2 billion in 2000.  Major export items included canned food, cotton, garment, silk products, woolen yarn, etc.  In addition to the traditional export markets like Kirghizistan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Japan and the US, the region has diversified into new export markets in Southeast Asia, Korea, Latin America and Africa.

 

Imports rose by 45.3% to US$1.4 billion in 2000.  Major import goods included aluminum and steel product, chemical fertilizer, paper and paper products, medical equipment, etc. Major import sources were Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, the US, Russia and Uzbekistan.

 

Xinjiang is the second largest border trade zone in China, after Heilongjiang Province.  Border trade reached US$1.3 billion in 2000 (+29%), accounting for 58.3% of the region's total trade.  There are 16 ports open for border trade with neighbouring countries.  Major export goods included foodstuff, textiles, chemical fibre cloth, garment, etc.  Major imports included raw materials, chemical fertilizer, etc. 

 

Foreign Investment

 

In 2000, the number of newly approved foreign-funded projects totalled 58 (+11.5%) with contractual and utilized foreign investment increased to US$92.1 million and US$19 million respectively.   By the end of 2000, investors from 36 countries had made a total of US$380 million investment in the region, of which Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan accounted for 63%.  Most foreign capital was invested in oil/gas exploitation and manufacturing industries like foodstuff, textiles and pharmaceuticals.

 

The Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair（烏魯木齊對外經濟貿易洽談會）is a major annual event in Xinjiang to promote foreign trade and inward investment.  In the coming year, the region will focus on expanding its border trade, attract foreign funds in developing its petroleum and natural gas resources facilities in the Tarim, Turpan-Hami and Junggar basins as well as infrastructure facilities.  Besides, foreign investors are also encouraged to participate in agricultural, food processing, textiles, petrochemicals, mining, building materials, environmental protection and other industries using advanced technology.

 

To boost the development of the central and western regions in China, the State Council has granted further tax incentives to foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in China.  Beginning from January 2001, foreign-invested enterprises in the central and western regions would enjoy another three years of preferential tax rate at 15% on top of the existing preferential treatment (exemption of profit tax for the first two years and 50% reduction for three years thereafter).  The tax rate can be further reduced to 10% when an enterprise is proved to export more than 70% of its annual output in terms of value.  Besides, the region’s government also exempt the foreign investors from paying the 3% profit tax to the local government if the business has an operating period exceeds 10 years.

 

Economic Indicators of Major Cities (1999)

 

	Population	GDP	Industrial Output	Retail Sales
Cities	('000)	(Rmb bn)	(Rmb bn)	(Rmb bn)
Urumqi        烏魯木齊	1,589	24.9   (+7.9%)	22.0   (+8.1%)	11.1   (+8.4%)
Ili                 伊犁州	3,858	18.2   (+7.0%)	7.4     (+10.7%)	5.2     (+7.0%)
Changji        昌吉州	1,482	11.0   (+9.3%)	7.4     (11.1%)	2.8     (+7.3%)
Ba                巴州	1,012	10.9   (+8.0%)	4.1*   (+16.9%)	3.0     (+5.0%)
Karamai       克拉瑪依	269	10.2   (+7.5%)	16.9   (+4.1%)	1.2     (+6.2%)
Kashi            喀什	3,342	6.9     (-3.2%)	1.38   (+5.6%)	1.7     (+7.6%)

Note: Figures in  (   ) represent year-on-year growth                  * Added value of Industrial Output

Source: Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook

 

Major Economic & Technological Development Zones (ETDZs)

 

By the end of 2000, Xinjiang has 10 development zones of which 6 are state-level development zones and border cooperation zones.

 

l           Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone（烏魯木齊經濟技術開發區）which mainly engages in chemical industry, textile, foodstuff, construction material, medicine and light industry.  An International Trade/Tourist Shopping Market（國際貿易旅遊購物市場）was open in 1998 to attract more foreign investment.

 

l           Urumqi Hi-tech Development Zone（烏魯木齊高新技術產業開發區）which mainly engages in hi-tech and tertiary industries, medicine, machinery.  In 1999, the zone achieved Rmb702 million of industrial output and total trade US$71.8 million. 

 

l           Shihezi Economic and Technological Development Zone（石河子經濟技術開發區）which mainly engages in light industry.  In 1999, there were 244 enterprises located in the zone, with its industrial output totalled Rmb571 million and its foreign trade reached US$13.6 million. 

 

l           Yining Border Economic Cooperation Zone（伊寧邊境經濟合作區）, was approved by the State Council in June 1992 as an important base of agricultural products.

 

l           Bole City Border Economic Cooperation Zone（博樂市邊境經濟合作區）, a state-level zone approved by the State Council in December 1992, mainly engages in export processing industry, machinery, high-grade science and technology, medicine processing and mining industry.

 

l           Tacheng City Border Economic Cooperation Zone（塔城市邊境經濟合作區）, was approved by the State Council in December 1992. 

 

Other development zones in Xinjiang include :

 

l           Kuitun Economic and Technological Development Zone（奎屯經濟技術開發區）, located on the wasteland of the Gobi desert, is the third largest industrial production centre in Xinjiang.