The Communist Party chief of Xinjiang has held talks with top executives from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek, as the western Chinese region continues its efforts to boost foreign investment.
Ma Xingrui, party secretary for the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, met Temasek chairman Lim Boon Heng and executive director and CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara in the regional capital Urumqi on Monday, the official Xinjiang Daily reported.
One focus of the talks was the energy sector, including traditional sources such as oil, gas and coal, as well as new energy sources such as wind and solar power, the paper said.
Xinjiang – with its strong winds and long daylight hours – topped the country in the first half of this year in terms of newly installed capacity for new energy, which more than doubled from the same period a year ago, official data showed.
Temasek also hopes to strengthen cooperation with Xinjiang in cultural exchanges and tourism, according to the report.
Senior Xinjiang officials and representatives of state-owned enterprises based in the region also attended the meeting.
The vast Xinjiang region is home to nearly 26 million people, about two-thirds of whom are members of ethnic minorities, including the mostly Muslim Uygurs and Kazakhs.
Beijing has been accused of human rights abuses and forced labour in Xinjiang, mainly targeting the Uygur population, but denies all allegations.
In an attempt to improve its international image, the Xinjiang government has in recent years become more proactive in promoting the region’s economic development, particularly its position as a core area for the Belt and Road Initiative – China’s signature transcontinental infrastructure and investment strategy.
03:28
State-backed tourism booms in Xinjiang cities ringed by camps
State-backed tourism booms in Xinjiang cities ringed by camps
The Temasek meeting was the latest in a string of talks held by top Xinjiang officials with foreign dignitaries and businesses in recent months.
Ma and other senior officials met Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni in Urumqi on Thursday, and a delegation of Taiwanese entrepreneurs earlier this month.
In April, the Xinjiang government hosted a grand reception in Beijing for envoys from more than 20 countries, including South Africa, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey, in a bid to strengthen cooperation.
Temasek – a multinational investment company owned by the Singapore government – said last month that the value of its portfolio rose just 2 per cent to S$389 billion (US$288 billion) in the year to March.
Growth from investments in the US and India was “offset by the underperformance of China’s capital markets”, it added.
Temasek said aside from its home market Singapore, the US would continue to be the largest destination for its capital, followed by India and Europe, in the face of challenges posed by geopolitical conflicts and China’s slower economic growth.
The fund’s exposure to China fell to 19 per cent in the 2023-2024 financial year, surpassed for the first time in a decade by the Americas at 22 per cent. China exposure stood at 22 per cent in 2023 and 29 per cent in 2020.
Temasek executives have repeatedly said that the fund will remain “cautious” about investing in China, but will not withdraw from the Chinese market.
Late last month in Beijing, Temasek CEO Sandrasegara met Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng, who is also director of the office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, a powerful party body tasked with managing the world’s No 2 economy. The general office guides its everyday operations.
During his talks with He, Sandrasegara expressed confidence “in the long-term development of the Chinese economy”, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.
