IX. Continuous Improvement in People's Wellbeing

Living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right, and a happy life for the people is the ultimate goal of development in Xinjiang. Committed to a people-centered approach, Xinjiang pursues development to improve its people's wellbeing, benefit local society, and strengthen unity. To this end, the regional government works tirelessly to solve the most pressing and immediate concerns of the people of all ethnic groups. Every year, more than 70 percent of Xinjiang's general public budget is allocated to safeguard and improve people's wellbeing, to ensure that development benefits the people of all ethnic groups in a fair way.

A complete victory in the fight against poverty. Xinjiang was once one of the areas with the highest incidence and intensity of poverty in all of China. After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the region prioritized the fight against poverty, pooling the best of its resources and adopting targeted measures to end poverty through hard work and perseverance.

By the end of 2020, over 3.06 million of Xinjiang's impoverished rural population, its 3,666 impoverished villages, and 35 impoverished counties had all emerged from poverty. Once the specter of absolute poverty that had haunted Xinjiang for millennia was finally eradicated, the region was able to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, along with the rest of the country. The infrastructure in areas that have escaped poverty has been significantly improved. All towns and townships, as well as administrative villages where conditions permit, now have access to paved roads, bus services, and three-phase power. Dilapidated houses in rural areas have become a thing of the past and the days of drinking bitter and saline water are forever gone.

In 2021, the first year after achieving complete victory against absolute poverty, the per capita disposable income of residents in once impoverished rural areas rose to RMB14,477, a 2.8-fold increase from RMB5,090 in 2012, with an average annual growth rate of 12.3 percent. The numbers of family cars, washing machines, refrigerators, and computers per 100 households had risen by 14.6, 51.6, 49.5 and 5.1 respectively, compared with figures in 2012, reflecting the broader improvements in people's quality of life.

Xinjiang has embarked on a new journey after eradicating absolute poverty. It has consolidated and expanded its achievements in poverty elimination, promoted all-round rural revitalization, and enabled the people of all ethnic groups to live a more fulfilling and promising life.

Steady growth in employment. Xinjiang implements the employment-first strategy and tries its best to achieve high-quality full employment. Employment rates are continuing to improve, with the region's employed population rising from 12.46 million in 2012 to 13.91 million in 2024, up 11.64 percent. The employment structure has also witnessed continued improvement. In 2024, the proportion of people working in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors stood at 31.34 percent, 14.45 percent, and 54.21 percent respectively. The hiring capacity of urban areas has continued to increase, with the number of people working in cities reaching 8.18 million in 2024, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total employed population.

People's income has increased. In 2024, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached RMB42,820 and RMB19,427, an increase of RMB23,801 and RMB12,551 respectively, compared with 2012 figures. Better employment has created a better life for all of the region's people. By improving the employment policy system and the mechanism for protecting labor rights and interests, Xinjiang has safeguarded workers' legitimate rights and interests, ensured employment for those with the ability to work, and enabled the people of all ethnic groups to look for the jobs that suit them best and work in decent conditions.

Comprehensive development of education. Prioritizing the development of education, Xinjiang has moved faster to build a high-quality education system, and worked to ensure that educational development offers greater benefits to the people of all ethnic groups in a fair way.

In 2024, the gross enrollment rate of preschool education in Xinjiang reached 102.72 percent, the completion rate of the nine-year compulsory education was over 99 percent, and the gross enrollment rate of senior high schools was 97.74 percent, all above the national average. Educational investment has continued to expand. Since 2012, fiscal expenditure from the central government on education in Xinjiang has reached RMB1.1 trillion, among which RMB47.9 billion have been used to improve conditions of elementary and secondary schools. These efforts have helped to promote the quality and balanced development of compulsory education.

A student financial assistance system covering all stages of education for every student from disadvantaged families has been established, with the amount of assistance increasing from RMB2.039 billion in 2012 to RMB9.306 billion in 2024. Students in Aksu, Kashi, and Hotan prefectures and the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in southern Xinjiang receive free education for 15 years, from preschool to senior high school.

Xinjiang has continued to optimize the configuration and structure of higher education. By 2024, the region had 63 institutions of higher learning, 24 more than 2012, and all five prefectures and autonomous prefectures in southern Xinjiang housed universities offering undergraduate programs, a historic breakthrough. The region has further expanded the scale of vocational education, with the number of students in vocational schools growing by 60.69 percent between 2012 and 2024 to reach 575,000. Through the establishment of a modern vocational education system, Xinjiang has cultivated a large number of highly skilled workers.

Improved and optimized health service system. Xinjiang continues to improve its policies on promoting public health and has significantly increased its protection of people's health. By 2024, Xinjiang had over 19,000 medical institutions of various types at all levels and 314,600 staff in the healthcare system. The number of beds in medical institutions per thousand people in 2024 was 7.85, the number of licensed and assistant doctors was 3.19, and the number of registered nurses was 4.12.

The service system has continued to improve. Xinjiang has established a total of 55 national-level key clinical specialties, 358 key clinical specialties and 54 specialty alliances at the autonomous region level, and 74 telemedicine coordination networks, all of which ensure that the people of all ethnic groups have access to affordable and effective medical services. It has worked to increase the availability of quality medical resources and ensure such resources are channeled towards the community level. The proportion of Xinjiang's closely integrated medical and health consortia at the county level has reached 86.05 percent, with all town and township health centers and village clinics in the region operating up to standards. Local patients can now obtain treatment for everyday health issues at the community level, for common illnesses in counties and prefectures, and for serious diseases within the autonomous region.

Xinjiang has worked to build an international medical center and make it a signature and demonstration medical project in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. It has sped up the development of three regional medical centers at the national level and four regional medical centers at the autonomous region level, and worked to fulfill their designated roles to ensure all people have access to medical services of higher quality.

The region's ability to safeguard public health has seen significant improvement. Disease prevention and control centers and health monitoring institutions in 14 prefectures, autonomous prefectures and cities, and 96 counties, county-level cities, and districts in Xinjiang have been restructured to improve the system for disease prevention and control. The development of the health sector has helped improve people's health, with the average life expectancy in the region increasing from 30 years in 1949 to 77 years in 2024.

An upgraded social security net. Xinjiang has continued to improve the multitiered social security system that covers the entire population in the urban and rural areas, see that it is fair, unified, reliable, well-regulated and sustainable, and speed up the formation of a strong safety net to ensure people's wellbeing.

By the end of 2024, the number of people under the basic old-age pension scheme and the basic medical insurance system in Xinjiang stood at 16.91 million and 23.67 million respectively, each accounting for over 95 percent of Xinjiang's total population in their category. The number of people under the unemployment insurance and work-related injury insurance exceeded 4.19 million and 5.43 million, respectively, in the same period. While improving its social security system across the board, Xinjiang has worked to upgrade its services to ensure that the fruits of reform and development can benefit more people in a fair way.

Xinjiang has established and improved the dynamic growth mechanism for social assistance standards and the price-linked adjustment mechanism for social assistance and social security standards. Since 2012, Xinjiang has increased the subsistence allowance 13 consecutive times to meet the people's basic living needs.