HUANGPU SHANGHAI

The improvements in education at all levels in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have helped young people to have a brighter future, a delegate to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China said on Sunday.

Many young people's lives have been transformed because of education, Zulhayat Ismayil, vice-president of Kashgar University said before the opening session of the 20th CPC National Congress.

"I've been following the case of Rukyam Abdulreyim from Aksu prefecture. After graduating from a local junior high school, she went to study embroidery at a vocational school. Later she became an apprentice at a textile factory in the regional capital of Urumqi. Now, Rukyam has returned home. With the financial support from the government, she has established an embroidery factory, which offers job opportunities to local women and is transforming more lives," Zulhayat said.

The quality of higher education in Xinjiang has significantly improved in the past 10 years. As an increasing number of young people chose to study in other parts of China, more and more people have come to Xinjiang to study, she said.

"At Kashgar University, you can see students from different ethnic groups living together in a dormitory. Specialties from different ethnic groups are on offer in the canteens, which have trended on social media," she added.

The increased popularity in courses including linguistics, logistics and e-commerce has indicated the changes in the region's development in the past decade, Zulhayat said.

"China's development strategy has placed Xinjiang — an inland region — at the frontline of opening-up. And the region has become a key logistics hub for the Belt and Road Initiative and attracted many talents," she said.

Over the past decade, the region's annual GDP has doubled while people's average disposable income has more than doubled.

"For people in Xinjiang, such changes aren't abstract, but something that can be felt as people's life continues to improve. Furthermore, people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from different ethnic groups are equally benefited by the stable development of the region", she said.

Zulhayat added that she hopes that by sharing the real stories of Xinjiang, the rumors about the region can be exposed.