The regional Two Sessions have reviewed the economic and social development achievements made across Xinjiang during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, mapped out a blueprint for work in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, and clarified the development path forward.

Erkin Tuniyaz, Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional People's Government, presented the regional government work report on January 27.

Last year was of special significance, being the 70th anniversary of the founding of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as well as the concluding year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The current year is also crucial as it marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

Against this backdrop, Xinjiang's Two Sessions—the Fourth Session of the 14th People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Fourth Session of the 13th Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)—were held.

The government work report delivered summarized the region's achievements in the past five years, including steady economic growth, stronger ethnic unity and improved living standards. It also laid a strategic roadmap for the region's high-quality development, with a focus on fostering new quality productive forces and improving people's wellbeing.

Over the past five years, the regional government has anchored its efforts around the five strategic positions defined by the Central Government for the region, which are: a westward opening-up gateway, a strategic fulcrum for the new development pattern, a national energy and resource security base, a high-quality agricultural and livestock product supply base, and a national geopolitical security barrier. To ensure a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan and align its development with national strategies, Xinjiang will continue to center around these five core roles.

Solid foundation

The region's solid work over the past five years, particularly its efforts to improve people's life, has laid a foundation for a good start into the next five years.

"By stabilizing employment, advancing education, strengthening medical and health care, and bolstering social security, we have laid a solid foundation for delivering tangible benefits to the people with substantial financial resources," Wang Kuiran, spokesperson and Secretary General of the regional people's government, told a news briefing.

He added that following a people-centered philosophy, over 70 percent of the fiscal expenditure of the region in the past five years has been allocated to improving living standards.

Xiapaketi Wushouer, spokesperson and Deputy Secretary General of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said over the past five years, livelihoods have been remarkably improved.

In terms of public services, the region has created more than 470,000 new urban jobs annually during the period. It has boosted high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education, and expanded the scale of vocational education.

Medical security has been strengthened. The initiative to streamline government services has cut the average processing time for official procedures by 61.5 percent and reduced the average number of trips required for such procedures by 83 percent.

In terms of living conditions, the coal-to-electricity heating projects have brought warmth to thousands of households, and the cross-Xinjiang natural gas pipeline has benefited more than 6 million people. Over 7,300 km of urban underground pipelines have been renovated, and upgrades and renovations have been carried out on urban and rural power grids as well as old urban communities.

In terms of quality of life, maternal and child care services and home-community elderly care services have been upgraded. Ten supportive policies have been introduced, benefiting 2.5 million people. Over 45 million visits were made to museums and memorial halls at all levels across the region.

In terms of the ecological environment, an over 3,000-km ecological barrier around the Taklimakan Desert has been completed, and desertified and sandy land reduced. Over 13 billion cubic meters of water has been diverted to the Tarim River Basin. In 2025, the proportion of days with good air quality in the Tianshan North Slope Urban Agglomeration reached 91 percent, and the average PM2.5 concentration met the national Grade II standard for five consecutive years.

Targets set

According to the government work report, in 2026, regional GDP is projected to grow by 5.5-6 percent, taking into account both changes in the external development environment and Xinjiang's conditions, balancing realistic development needs with long-term growth potential.

Key priorities for 2026 include fostering new quality productive forces through the digital economy, renewable energy and other emerging sectors, expanding domestic demand via targeted consumer incentives, advancing rural revitalization, and upgrading modern agriculture and animal husbandry.

To advance economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the Two Sessions outlined key priorities. Xinjiang's development must achieve effective quality improvement and reasonable quantity growth, promote all-round human development and common prosperity, and better balance high-level security with high-quality development.

In the next five years, progress will be made in nine key areas: improving the national security system and capacity, advancing high-quality development, deepening comprehensive reforms, enhancing social civilization, improving people's quality of life, building a beautiful Xinjiang, addressing prominent development issues in south Xinjiang, and giving full play to the special role of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

The overall goal is maintaining social stability and lasting peace and security; the central task is forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation. The region will balance effective quality improvement and reasonable quantity growth, promote all-round development and common prosperity, and make decisive progress in realizing basic socialist modernization in step with the rest of the country.

As the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Xinjiang has launched 10 practical livelihood projects for 2026. They cover employment support, elderly care, fertility and child-rearing assistance, primary and secondary student care, targeted disability support, housing improvement, safe consumption, medical and health service upgrading, sci-tech, culture and sports benefits for the public, and rural water supply and road network upgrades.

Xu Hongyun, Director of the Policy Research Office of the regional people's government, elaborated on the measures for the 15th Five-Year Plan period: Xinjiang will leverage five key areas—industrial optimization, innovation-driven development, digital transformation, further opening up to the west, and green development—to harness new quality productive forces for high-quality development.

In 2026, Xinjiang will accelerate the transformation and upgrade of industrial clusters, increase investment in science and technology, and further develop emerging sectors such as the digital economy. Large new energy bases will be constructed in desert and barren areas, the AI+ initiative will be launched and the computing power of regions with abundant electricity supply will be strengthened.

Xinjiang will pursue green development, converting the abundant wind and solar resources in its vast desert areas into tangible development potential.

Consumption is key

Measures have been rolled out to boost consumption. Li Xuan, Deputy Director of the regional Department of Commerce, said the past year's trade-in subsidy policy (a strategy to stimulate consumption by encouraging consumers to replace outdated products) was a success, with subsidies exceeding 3.4 billion yuan ($489 million). They drove 26.16 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in consumption, benefiting nearly 1.2 million people.

The policy has been continued this year. As of January 27, subsidies for vehicle trade-ins and the purchase of new digital and smart products had spurred 270 million yuan ($38.9 million) in consumption.

Xinjiang will expand the scope of subsidies and create integrated consumption scenarios combining business, tourism, culture, sports and health. At least 1,000 consumption promotion events will be held throughout the year.

Besides, vehicle and home appliance sales will be developed in rural areas as well as regional consumption hubs to make consumption more accessible and beneficial.

Gul Abulim, Director of the regional Department of Culture and Tourism, said in 2026, Xinjiang will take targeted measures in four key areas—brand events, distinctive business formats, promotional cooperation and service guarantees—to elevate the influence of the "Xinjiang is a Good Place" brand and advance high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry.

Wen Hua, Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Development and Reform Commission, said the development of a national strategic base for energy and resource security will be accelerated, providing more support for national energy security.

Guidelines have been issued for agriculture: Grain production will be stabilized, cotton cultivation optimized and the fruit industry strengthened. Animal husbandry will be boosted, and distinctive industries developed.

Xie Yingzhou, Deputy Director of the regional Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, specified that in 2026, Xinjiang will take five major initiatives to upgrade the quality and efficiency of modern agriculture and animal husbandry. They include deepening technological empowerment and accelerating the development of agricultural brands.

A fragrant legacy

He Jiaolong, a former deputy to the 15th and 16th Zhaosu County People's Congress and a deputy to the People's Congress of Yili (Ili) Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, died in a horse-riding accident in January.

She was remembered at the closing meeting of the regional People's Congress on January 31, with Zumret Obul, head of the Standing Committee of the regional People's Congress, calling her work "a model for all deputies to learn from."

She first gained widespread attention in 2020 with her viral "horseback ride in snow" videos, which promoted tourism in Zhaosu, a border county in Yili known as the "Hometown of Heavenly Horses" for its rich grassland culture and pristine alpine ecological environment.

She was a pioneer in rural revitalization and e-commerce development. As director of the Xinjiang Agricultural Product Brand Building, Production and Sales Service Center, she led charity livestreaming sessions, helped market local specialty products, and boosted agricultural product sales.

She also assisted enterprises in their digital and e-commerce transformation, making remarkable contributions to increasing local incomes, promoting ethnic unity and revitalizing grassroots economies.

In a public vote to name a new rose variety, "Jiaolong" won an overwhelming majority of votes. On January 23, the rose was officially named Jiaolong as a mark of respect for her dedication to public service and frontline work.

A delegation from Zhaosu traveled to Yunnan Province in the south to receive the rose saplings and on February 4, the county officially planted them with a "welcome" ceremony. This special rose is now a bond connecting Xinjiang and Yunnan, symbolizing passion, perseverance and the spirit of selfless dedication. 

Xinjiang's Two Sessions at a Glance

The 2026 Two Sessions of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region comprised the Fourth Session of the 14th People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, held from January 27 to 31, and the Fourth Session of the 13th Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), held from January 26 to 30. About 1,000 deputies and members attended the pivotal annual political sessions that shaped Xinjiang's development agenda for 2026 and beyond.

The deputies to the regional People's Congress voted to adopt the list of chairpersons of special committees and the regulation on scientific and technological innovation. They also passed resolutions on the regional government work report, the 2025-26 development plans and budgets, as well as the work reports of the Standing Committee of the regional People's Congress, the regional Higher People's Court and the regional People's Procuratorate.

The session also endorsed the review report by the Financial and Economic Committee of the regional People's Congress and formally adopted the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for the region on January 31.

The regional CPPCC session adopted resignation resolutions, election measures and key work resolutions, and added three vice chairpersons and one standing committee member by secret ballot.

During the Two Sessions, four briefings were organized to inform the media and the public. The first two were on the work of the regional CPPCC and People's Congress, while the latter two concentrated on economic and social development, as well as elaborating the regional government work report.

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