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Massive effort to uplift Xinjiang
By Li Jianmin and Cao Zhiheng |
May 19, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S central government is about to unveil a massive support package to boost development and bring stability in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region rocked by a deadly riot last July.
Major moves include:
Pairing wealthy regions and cities with poor areas in Xinjiang and requiring them to contribute 0.3-0.6 percent of their fiscal revenue from 2011-2020;
Requiring far more employment of local people in enterprises;
Requiring new applicants for government jobs to speak not only Mandarin Chinese but also one of local languages.
Under a "pairing assistance" model revealed by the central government at a high-level meeting on March 29 and 30, 19 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, are each required to help support the development of different areas in Xinjiang.
Guangdong, for instance, is mainly to assist Shufu and Jiashi counties in Kashgar Prefecture. Liu Qi, Party chief of Beijing, has promised 7.2 billion yuan (US$1.06 billion) from 2011 to 2015 to support development in Hotan.
The paired assistance model has been practiced since 1997, but the new model is expected to be more effective. The 19 affluent provinces and cities will be expected to earmark 0.3-0.6 percent of their fiscal revenue every year from 2011 to 2020 to support Xinjiang's development. Xinjiang will receive about 10 billion yuan from other Chinese local governments next year. Xinjiang received 4.3 billion yuan in cash and supplies from other provinces over the past 13 years.
And it's not just about money. Scholars have voiced concern for the ethnic minorities in the paired assistance drive, as Xinjiang enterprises based in other areas usually employ workers from inland provinces, instead of local residents. Language is said to be a major reason.
"The government should do things for and talk more with the people at the bottom of society and marginalized groups," said Xu Jianying from the Research Center of China's Border History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Although Zhang Chunxian, the new Party Chief of Xinjiang, has barely started work, he swiftly issued a regulation calling for more bilingual officials, just days after arriving in Xinjiang in late April. Now applicants for government jobs in Xinjiang must be able to communicate in both Chinese and one of the local languages.
(The authors are Xinhua writers. Shanghai Daily edited the article.)
Major moves include:
Pairing wealthy regions and cities with poor areas in Xinjiang and requiring them to contribute 0.3-0.6 percent of their fiscal revenue from 2011-2020;
Requiring far more employment of local people in enterprises;
Requiring new applicants for government jobs to speak not only Mandarin Chinese but also one of local languages.
Under a "pairing assistance" model revealed by the central government at a high-level meeting on March 29 and 30, 19 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, are each required to help support the development of different areas in Xinjiang.
Guangdong, for instance, is mainly to assist Shufu and Jiashi counties in Kashgar Prefecture. Liu Qi, Party chief of Beijing, has promised 7.2 billion yuan (US$1.06 billion) from 2011 to 2015 to support development in Hotan.
The paired assistance model has been practiced since 1997, but the new model is expected to be more effective. The 19 affluent provinces and cities will be expected to earmark 0.3-0.6 percent of their fiscal revenue every year from 2011 to 2020 to support Xinjiang's development. Xinjiang will receive about 10 billion yuan from other Chinese local governments next year. Xinjiang received 4.3 billion yuan in cash and supplies from other provinces over the past 13 years.
And it's not just about money. Scholars have voiced concern for the ethnic minorities in the paired assistance drive, as Xinjiang enterprises based in other areas usually employ workers from inland provinces, instead of local residents. Language is said to be a major reason.
"The government should do things for and talk more with the people at the bottom of society and marginalized groups," said Xu Jianying from the Research Center of China's Border History and Geography at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Although Zhang Chunxian, the new Party Chief of Xinjiang, has barely started work, he swiftly issued a regulation calling for more bilingual officials, just days after arriving in Xinjiang in late April. Now applicants for government jobs in Xinjiang must be able to communicate in both Chinese and one of the local languages.
(The authors are Xinhua writers. Shanghai Daily edited the article.)
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