(Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday attended a grand gathering celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Urumqi, capital of the region, in northwest China.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joined local officials and members of the public from all ethnic groups and walks of life at the event.
Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and head of the central delegation, attended the event and delivered a speech. Cai Qi, director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, was also present at the gathering. MM. Both Wang and Cai are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
The rally started around 10:30 a.m. All participants stood up in unison and sang the national anthem.
A congratulatory message from the CPC Central Committee, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the CPPCC National Committee, as well as the Central Military Commission was read out at the gathering.
In his speech, Wang said that over the past 70 years, people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have achieved great successes in socialist revolution and development, as well as reform and opening-up, under the leadership of the CPC.
The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core leader has formulated the Party’s policies for governing Xinjiang in the new era, which has achieved historic results in various fields in the region, Wang said.
Xinjiang, like the rest of the country, has won the battle against poverty and completed the construction of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Wang said, stressing that ethnic unity in Xinjiang has been further consolidated and the sense of belonging to the Chinese nation has been strengthened.
The autonomous region’s achievements over the past seven decades reflect the strengths of the Party leadership and the socialist system, as well as the strong vitality of China’s correct and distinctive approach to handling ethnic affairs, Wang said.
He called for greater efforts to build a modern socialist Xinjiang, characterized by unity, harmony, prosperity, abundance, cultural progress and a healthy ecological environment, where people live and work in peace and contentment.
