Xinjiang's economic performance shows good sign of recovery

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region held a news conference in Urumqi, capital of the region on Jan 27, to issue an outline of its 2020 economic performance, according to local reports.

Xu Bin, head of the region’s Development and Reform Commission, briefed the media on the economic figures.

Xu Bin, head of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region’s Development and Reform Commission, briefs the media on the region's economic performance on Jan 27. [Photo/ts.cn]

The official said that thanks to epidemic control and economic recovery measures, Xinjiang’s GDP saw a year-on-year growth of 3.4 percent, which was better than expected.

Effective investment has been expanded in the region. Its growth rate ranked top among the country's regions. Investment in fixed assets in Xinjiang increased by 16.2 percent, which was 13.7 percentage points better than the previous year.

Investment in agriculture reported the highest growth rate over the past ten years, and investment in infrastructure increased by 9.8 percent.

The growth rate of consumption in Xinjiang saw stable growth, with the consumption of daily necessities growing particularly rapidly last year.

In 2020, online retail sales increased by 27.6 percent year-on-year; the added value of the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 25.0 percent; and that of strategic emerging industries grew by 20.3 percent.

Electricity transmitted from Xinjiang to other parts of the country increased by 47.9 percent year-on-year.

The per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents increased by 0.5 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. The region's annual average urban surveyed unemployment rate has been declining gradually quarter-by-quarter.

“It was not easy to realize these achievements  as the novel coronavirus raged around the world, the global economy is in serious recession and the external environment is becoming more and more complicated,” Xu said at the conference.