China issues white paper on Xinjiang's demographic development

BEIJING -- China's State Council Information Office Sunday issued a white paper detailing the demographic development in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The white paper, titled "Xinjiang Population Dynamics and Data," said over the past 70 years, Xinjiang has seen rapid and steady population growth, improving population quality, higher life expectancy, and faster urbanization and modernization.

Xinjiang's population growth from 2000 to 2020 was 1.15 percentage points higher than the national average in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR), said the white paper.

According to data from the sixth national census conducted in 2010, the population in Xinjiang was 21.82 million, an increase of 3.36 million with a CAGR of 1.68 percent over 2000, according to the white paper.

Preliminary data from the seventh national census conducted in 2020 showed that the number increased by 4.04 million to reach 25.85 million with a CAGR of 1.71 percent, said the document.

The Uygur population in Xinjiang has maintained a relatively high growth rate, growing at a CAGR of 1.67 percent from over 8.34 million in 2000 to over 11.62 million in 2020. The growth rate was much higher than that of the country's ethnic minority population, which stood at 0.83 percent, said the document.

Xinjiang's demographic development marks the success of a unified multiethnic country in ensuring the healthy population growth of its ethnic minorities.

Anti-China forces have fabricated stories of "genocide" in Xinjiang to deceive the international community, mislead international public opinion, and impede China's development and progress. These malicious efforts will not succeed and truth will prevail over falsehoods, said the white paper.