A quiet revolution is underway in the vast cotton fields of Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture in north Xinjiang where harvesting machines, guided by digital sensors, operate with minimal human intervention. According to Aoqierbate, head of the prefecture’s Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, now hundreds of hectares of cotton can be harvested by just one or two machine operators.

Dilinur comes from a farming family in Bortala. In the past, the family’s livelihood depended entirely on the weather. Farming was time-consuming and a year’s harvest could be wiped out by heavy rain or thunderstorms. Today, the 42-year-old has found a more efficient way to make money.

She leases her land to a cooperative that has made farming large-scale from the past family-run affair and receives a fixed annual payment. This change has freed up much of her time, and she can take on part-time work like planting and harvesting goji berry in nearby villages and selling Xinjiang specialties online.

“With more sources, my income has multiplied and I have much more time than before. Life is getting better and better,” she said.

Dilinur’s story mirrors a larger transformation. With strategic policies and substantial investments in infrastructure, technology and social programs, Xinjiang is rapidly transforming from a remote border region into a vibrant economic hub, making tangible improvements in people’s daily lives.

Decades of improvement

As Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region celebrates the 70th anniversary of its establishment, average life expectancy has risen from just 30 years in the early 1950s to 77 years in 2024. Gross regional product surpassed 2 trillion yuan ($281 billion) in 2024, an increase of approximately 1,668 times since 1955.

Incomes too show dramatic growth. The average annual urban disposable income is 42,820 yuan ($6,017), climbing up more than 130 times from 1978. Rural per-capita net income jumped more than 160 times to 19,427 yuan ($2,730) in the same period.

There are tangible improvements in people’s everyday lives—better clothing, diverse and nutritious diets, modern housing and upgraded transportation.

Shi Huan, who lives in downtown Yining, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, is a beneficiary of the improvements. In the past, ferries were the only way for the city’s residents to cross the Ili River, the mother river of the region. For generations, the river—though a lifeline—was also a barrier, separating communities and limiting?opportunities.

Today, that is a distant memory. The construction of eight bridges over the Ili River has revolutionized connectivity. The first bridge was completed in 1975, connecting its southern and northern banks. The most recent one will open to traffic on September 30. The 2.86-km bridge links an industrial park in Yining and Chabuchaer (Qapqal) Xibe Autonomous County and will reduce travel time by more than half, unlocking new possibilities for trade, tourism and daily life.

For Shi, who runs a supermarket some 4 km from the bridge, it is more than a convenience—it’s a symbol of progress. “I spent more than 30 minutes to commute from my home to the supermarket in the past,” she said. “When the bridge opens, it will be only 15 minutes.”

Shi called the bridges a testament to how much life has improved for the community. “Back in the day, you saw horse-drawn carts on the bridges, hauling goods. Then came the minivans, and these days, you see more and more modern family cars on the road.”

Xinjiang, accounting for one sixth of China’s land area, is home to some of the country’s most dramatic natural scenery—from the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains and the vast Taklimakan Desert to serene alpine lakes, lush pastures and riverside poplar forests. Thanks to substantial improvements in infrastructure, the region’s tourism industry is now flourishing.

Ili today gets a growing number of visitors from across the country and neighboring regions such as Kazakhstan, drawn to the region’s stunning natural landscapes, rich cultural diversity and deep historical connections to the ancient Silk Road.

The Xinjiang regional government announced in May that it will undertake 500 key projects with a total investment of 3.47 trillion yuan ($487 billion) this year. The projects are distributed across major sectors: building integrated transportation networks, improving water resource efficiency, upgrading power grids, expanding oil and gas pipelines, and enhancing intelligent computing capacity.

Additionally, a number of projects in science and technology, education, culture, tourism, health and sports will be undertaken to advance social development and public services.

Increasing openness

A vast region that has the longest border and most land ports in China, Xinjiang has enhanced its connectivity with the outside world in recent years, boosting mutually beneficial cooperation and people-to-people exchange.

It saw over 16,400 China-Europe freight trains, a key Belt and Road Initiative project, pass through in 2024. This was a 14-percent increase from the previous year, and more than half of the national total. The railway enables faster and more cost-effective movement of goods such as electronics, machinery, automotive parts and textiles from China to European markets and countries along the routes. The trains bring back food products, luxury items and industrial equipment. This has strengthened economic ties and supported regional growth.

The number of enterprises in the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), inaugurated in November 2023, is also rapidly increasing. The first FTZ in China’s northwestern border regions and the 22nd nationwide, it is now home to more than 40,000 enterprises. The number of foreign-invested enterprises is now 1.5 times more than when the FTZ opened, according to statistics from the regional department of?commerce.

Despite the global uncertainties, Xinjiang’s foreign trade has maintained rapid growth, reaping 27.3 percent year-on-year growth in the first seven months of this year, according to Urumqi Customs. During the same period, Xinjiang conducted trade with 223 countries and regions worldwide, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.3 percent.

Trade with Belt and Road partner countries grew by 17.5 percent year on year, accounting for 85.3 percent of Xinjiang’s total foreign trade volume.