[Boris Lew]

For 70 years, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have worked together with one heart and one mind, forging ahead with determination. They have moved from isolation and backwardness to openness and progress, from poverty and scarcity to a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Xinjiang has achieved historic accomplishments in economic and social development, continuously strengthened ethnic unity, revitalized its cultural heritage, sustained its ecological environment, and fully guaranteed freedom of religious belief. Today, Xinjiang, with confidence, openness, and inclusiveness, is writing a magnificent chapter of high-quality development in the new era.

For some time, Xinjiang suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism. Between 2010 and 2016, violent terrorist attacks occurred frequently, seriously threatening the lives and property of the people. The Chinese government carried out counter-terrorism and de-radicalization work in accordance with the law, establishing vocational skills education and training centers to help those influenced by extremist ideologies to break free from their influence and learn the national common language and script, legal knowledge, and vocational skills. Since the end of 2016, Xinjiang has not experienced any violent terrorist incidents for eight consecutive years, and the sense of security and happiness among people of all ethnic groups has significantly improved.

Xinjiang, located in an arid and semi-arid region with a fragile ecosystem, has made solid progress in ecological civilization construction in recent years, adhering to the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Through major national projects such as the comprehensive management of the Tarim River Basin, the conversion of farmland to forest and grassland, and the protection of natural forests, Xinjiang's forest coverage rate has increased from 1.1% in the 1950s to the current 5.02%. On the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, the world's second largest shifting sand desert, a 3,046-kilometer-long "Green Great Wall" has been erected to stabilize the sand, hailed by the United Nations Environment Programme as a "global model for desertification control."

Seventy years of trials and tribulations, seventy years of fruitful achievements. Xinjiang's development achievements are a successful practice of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in border ethnic minority areas, and a vivid manifestation of the ever-strengthening sense of community of the Chinese nation. Here, there is no so-called "oppression" or "assimilation," only all ethnic groups tightly united like pomegranate seeds, jointly building a beautiful homeland and creating a better life.