Zhu Rongji on the Record: The Road to Reform 1991-–1997

Thoughts on How Xinjiang Should Develop Its Economy

292 37 Thoughts on How Xinjiang Should Develop Its Economy1 September 8–13, 1995 ihaven’t often come to Xinjiang—i visited turpan and Kashgar in 1987. Since starting work at the State council, i’ve been to Xinjiang once, in 1993, and that was primarily to northern Xinjiang. this time i’ve come mainly to have a look at southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang Southern Xinjiang’s development is a bit poorer than that of northern Xinjiang, and particularly because of the special circumstances in southern Xinjiang, the issue of stability is particularly important. that’s why the principal leaders of the Party central committee and the State council care so much about southern Xinjiang. the night before i was here, jiang zemin personally telephoned me and asked me to pay attention to work on alleviating poverty in southern Xinjiang, and he particularly asked that we implement the waterworksrebuilding project. jiang zemin is especially concerned about stability in southern Xinjiang. he pointed out that there are still some complex conditions here and that some people with ulterior motives, both inside and outside china, are trying to make trouble through the issue of religion. We should pay attention politically, develop more quickly economically, and improve the people’s working and living conditions. only by doing so can we fundamentally firm up our borders. he mentioned in particular that we shouldn’t overlook the role of the Xinjiang construction corps,2 and that we should help the corps resolve some practical problems because it plays an important and irreplaceable role in strengthening 1. While inspecting work in the Xinjiang uyghur Autonomous region during September 8–13, 1995, zhu rongji visited the Kashgar, hotan, Aksu, and turpan areas, the First Agricultural division of the Xinjiang construction corps, and the turpan-hami oil fields. these are the highlights of remarks he made during his inspection visit. 2. the Xinjiang construction corps was founded in 1954 and is responsible for both developing agricultural settlements and border security. it is under the dual leadership of the central government and the government of the Xinjiang uyghur Autonomous region. Thoughts on How Xinjiang Should Develop Its Economy 293 our borders. At noon on my first day here, Li Peng also asked me to focus on implementation of our work in southern Xinjiang. that’s why in coming here i have brought with me the caring and the directives for southern Xinjiang of the principal leaders of the Party central committee and the State council, and i’ve come to put their caring and their directives into practice. My impression of Xinjiang this time is that southern Xinjiang is not quite as developed as northern Xinjiang, and i think the poorest place here is hotan. in hotan, i said that it should be described as “rich yet poor” hotan. At the macro level, the environment in hotan is exceptionally harsh, but at the micro level, there is much hope. its natural conditions are better than in some places in the heartland, even some of the rich places. it has long frost-free periods, high mean temperatures, long daylight hours, and also favorable conditions for irrigation. this will be a very prosperous and wealthy place—it definitely has the conditions for this. therefore we should all be very optimistic and very confident about the development of hotan, or of southern Xinjiang. We can see from the way the people of hotan have engaged in intensive farming and the way they dare to do battle with heaven and earth that they have created an ecological marvel, a miracle of an oasis in the desert. how should we utilize such rich conditions, how should we develop the region, how should we alleviate poverty? By developing resources and the natural environment and altering the face of poverty. Both the Xinjiang uyghur Autonomous region and the hotan region have plans, and we approve of them. these are the crystallization of your many years of practice, and we should continue to move in this direction. Regarding the Project to Rebuild the Waterworks of Southern Xinjiang i’ve visited several sites. i’ve seen how this work is gradually being implemented in hotan and seen that part of it has already been rebuilt. After witnessing this, we’re all very satisfied. the project didn’t cost a lot, but the farmers have benefited . A water tower and a water-supply building were constructed, and a pipe was laid that was connected to the farmers’ homes. the...