Northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has posted a first-quarter gross domestic product of 482.63 billion yuan, equal to approximately $70.6 billion, marking a 3.5 percent year-on-year expansion, regional statistics officials confirmed in a recent announcement. Breakdown of the region’s economic output shows the primary sector contributed 15.45 billion yuan in added value, a 3 percent annual increase, while the secondary sector generated 189.16 billion yuan in added value, growing 5.2 percent from a year earlier. The tertiary sector, the largest contributor to Xinjiang’s Q1 output, recorded 278.01 billion yuan in added value, growing by 2.3 percent year-on-year.
At a press briefing held in Urumqi on Friday, Wei Hong, deputy director of the Xinjiang Regional Bureau of Statistics, outlined that while the region’s economic momentum held steady through the opening three months of 2026, it is navigating short-term headwinds characterized by robust supply conditions and softening domestic demand. Even with these temporary challenges, Wei stressed that the current slowdown in some segments is a natural part of Xinjiang’s ongoing deliberate shift toward more sustainable, high-quality economic growth.
“Xinjiang’s core industries have maintained stable expansion, fixed-asset investment is climbing at a rapid clip, and the overall quality and efficiency of regional development continue to improve,” Wei stated at the conference. “Over the long term, the underlying trajectory of steady positive economic growth for Xinjiang remains unchanged.”
Official data from the statistics bureau shows the region’s industrial production held firm in the first quarter, with value-added output from industrial enterprises above the designated size threshold expanding by 7.8 percent year-on-year. Six of Xinjiang’s key industrial sectors — including nonferrous metal mining and smelting, textile manufacturing, food processing, power and heat supply, and chemical raw materials and products production — all recorded double-digit annual growth in the first quarter. Beyond industrial output, total fixed-asset investment across the region jumped 12.9 percent year-on-year, a strong indicator of ongoing development momentum.
Looking ahead, Wei noted that Xinjiang will roll out more proactive and targeted macroeconomic policies, with a core focus on stabilizing employment, supporting business operations, shoring up market activity, and anchoring market expectations. These measures are designed to lay the groundwork for continued sustained, healthy economic expansion across the region.