China’s President Xi Jinping has arrived in Urumqi to attend the 70th anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, according to state media reports, making him the first national leader to attend such a landmark celebration.
Advertisement
Xi arrived in the regional capital on Tuesday afternoon, along with two members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the top Communist Party body, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Accompanying him are Wang Huning, China’s fourth-ranking official and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s top political advisory body overseeing ethnic and religious affairs; and Cai Xi, the president’s chief of staff and China’s No 5 official.
According to Xinhua, Xi extended “sincere greetings and heartfelt wishes to the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang” as he met with representatives from “all ethnic groups and all walks of life” shortly after his arrival.
He urged “concerted efforts to better build a beautiful Xinjiang in the process of Chinese modernisation”, the report said.
Advertisement
Established by the central government in October 1955, Xinjiang is one of China’s five autonomous regions with significant ethnic minority populations. It is home to at least 10 million Uygurs, who are predominantly Muslim.