新疆的发展进步，是包括新疆各族人民在内的全中国人民团结拼搏的伟大成果，是中国各族人民共同繁荣发展的生动体现，是中国民族区域自治制度在新疆的成功实践。

　　一、实行民族区域自治制度

　　新疆地处中国西北边疆，早在公元前60年就纳入中国版图，成为中国统一多民族国家不可分割的组成部分。历代中央政府根据新疆的实际情况，采取多种形式治理新疆。新疆各族人民在共同创建和发展中国统一多民族国家的历史过程中，形成了你中有我、我中有你的血肉联系。

The development and progress witnessed in Xinjiang has been achieved by all the peoples of China - including the various ethnic groups in Xinjiang - working together in pursuit of a common goal. It gives a vivid expression to the progress made by China's ethnic groups towards achieving common prosperity, and marks the successful implementation of China's system of ethnic regional autonomy in Xinjiang.

I. Implementing the System of Ethnic Regional Autonomy

Located in China's northwest, Xinjiang was documented as forming part of China's territories as early as 60 BC, and went on to become an integral part of the unified and multiethnic country. In light of the actual local conditions, the central governments in successive dynastic periods adopted various different forms of governance in this region. During the process of creating and developing a unified and multiethnic country, all the ethnic peoples of Xinjiang developed close ties and became integrated as one.

　　历史上，生活在新疆地区的各族人民，以其勤劳、智慧和勇敢，创造了灿烂的多民族文化，成为中华文化的重要组成部分，新疆也成为连通中外、传播文明的重要通道。1840年鸦片战争后，中国逐步沦为半殖民地半封建社会，新疆各族人民遭受着外国侵略者、封建势力和剥削阶级的压迫，社会地位极为低下。到20世纪40年代末，南疆、伊犁和乌鲁木齐农业区的大部分土地都为少数地主所霸占，大部分农民只占有很少的土地。在南疆维吾尔农民聚居的偏远农村，还分散地、极少量地存有较完整的农奴主庄园，农奴主对农奴有支配一切的权力，农奴们无偿地为农奴主耕种土地，并承担各种家庭杂役。在北疆牧区，残留着封建氏族制度的社会关系，王公贵族、部落头领不仅占有大量的牲畜，而且享有种种封建特权。新中国成立前，新疆经济社会发展严重滞后，各族人民生活十分贫困，根本无法享有基本人权。

　　1921年中国共产党成立后，就在为包括新疆各族人民在内的全体中国人民寻找一条实现民族独立、人民解放的正确道路。中国共产党成立初期，就有一些中共党员进入新疆地区从事革命工作。抗日战争时期，在中国共产党的领导下，新疆各族人民通过多种形式支援内地的抗战事业。一批各族进步青年受到先进思想的熏陶影响，积极追求进步，发动各族群众同反动落后势力进行斗争。共同的历史命运使新疆各族人民深信，唯有中国共产党才能救中国，这样的共识为后来新疆和平解放奠定了基本前提条件。

Known for their hard working, wisdom and bravery, the ethnic groups of Xinjiang created a distinctive multiethnic culture, which became an important part of overall Chinese culture. Xinjiang also became a key gateway connecting China with the rest of the world and disseminating diverse cultures.

After the First Opium War (1840-1842), China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and the ethnic peoples of Xinjiang suffered oppression under the foreign aggressors, feudal forces and exploiting classes, falling to the bottom of society.

By the late 1940s, most of the arable land in the farming areas of southern Xinjiang, Ili and Urumqi had been seized by a handful of landlords, leaving very little to the majority of peasants. In the remote villages inhabited by Uygur peasants in southern Xinjiang, a small number of serf owners' estates existed in relatively complete form. The overlords of these estates owned their serfs from head to toe, and the serfs were forced to work their masters' lands without payment and to perform all kinds of domestic chores. In the pastoral areas of northern Xinjiang, remnants of the feudal clan system were evident in that the nobility and the clan chiefs not only held large herds of livestock, but also enjoyed all kinds of feudal privileges.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xinjiang lagged far behind the rest of the country in economic and social development, and the ethnic peoples there lived in dire poverty and were deprived of basic human rights.

Founded in 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC) took as its mission the search for a right path to realize national independence and the liberation of the people, including the ethnic peoples of Xinjiang. In its early days, the CPC sent some of its members to Xinjiang to carry out revolutionary work. During the Chinese people's War of Resistance againstJapanese Aggression, the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang lent their support to the cause of resistance through various means under the leadership of the CPC. A number of revolutionary youth, influenced by progressive ideas, actively mobilized the peoples of Xinjiang to fight against reactionary and backward forces. The common call of history convinced them that only the CPC could save China - a prerequisite for the consensus against which Xinjiang later greeted its peaceful liberation.