Freedom of religious belief protected in Xinjiang: white paper

White paper says incidence of poverty in Xinjiang no more than 10 pct

BEIJING -- A white paper issued by China's State Council Information Office on Thursday said the incidence of poverty had dropped to 10 percent or less by the end of 2016 in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

According to the white paper titled "Human Rights in Xinjiang - Development and Progress," Xinjiang has implemented targeted and effective measures in poverty alleviation, and further improvement has been made in the quality of life and daily living conditions of the impoverished.

The white paper said southern Xinjiang has been taken as the focus of the poverty-relief program, with more funds and more social resources directed to the area.

Over the years, Xinjiang has maintained a constant focus on economic development. It ensures that all the people share the fruits of development, and effectively protects the various economic rights of citizens, it read.

Since the launch of China's reform and opening-up drive in 1978, Xinjiang's GDP has soared from 3.9 billion yuan (about $570 million) to 961.7 billion yuan in 2016.

In the same period, the per-capita disposable income of urban residents rose from 319 yuan to 28,463 yuan and that of rural residents from 119 yuan to 10,183 yuan.

Meanwhile, the Engel coefficient of urban households decreased from 57.3 percent in 1980 to 29.1 percent in 2016; that of rural households from 60 percent to 31.7 percent.

The white paper said the autonomous region has directed a considerable effort to infrastructure construction in tap water, power and gas.

It added that Xinjiang has also given priority to promoting equal employment opportunities, and encouraged different sectors to create more jobs.

At the end of 2016, the region's registered urban unemployment rate was 3.22 percent, with 455,000 new jobs created in urban areas over the course of the year.

Efforts were made to develop vocational education, and a long-term mechanism was set up to ensure that every family has at least one member in work.