XINJIANG: KEY TO CHINA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH?
China has not been widely known as an oil country yet a closer look into Xinjiang’s rich natural oil and gas economy may change that perception. In late December 2020, Rueters reported that state owned PetroChina had discovered a large natural reserve in the northwest region of Xinjiang. The state owned entreprise has estimated that the gas reserve exceeds 100 billion cubic meters.
Xinjiang’s rapidly growing energy economy is not entirely new however. In 2014, the New York Times even did a mini-documentary on the autonomous region. The main point of that report had focused on the wealth inequalities in Xinjiang. Nonetheless, it had also made evident that the province has been rapidly developed into China’s key energy development site. The New York Times noted that, “[t]he foundation of Xinjiang’s energy is oil. Xinjiang has an estimated 21 billion tons of oil reserves, a fifth of China’s total, and major new deposits are still being found.” Moreover, these natural gas and oil reserves in Xinjiang have been discovered since the 1950s and since then the region has developed into China’s “national energy strategy base”. The fast growing development of Xinjiang’s energy sector is made more obvious when we look at China’s steady rise as a top global oil producer, and also ranking as possessing one of the world’s largest oil reserves.
While major media outlets have undermined Xinjiang’s development success by stressing China’s “crackdown” on Uyghur Muslims who are native to the autonomous region. However, these claims remain contested. At the same time, what remains clear and evident is Xinjiang’s central role towards China’s overall economic prosperity. Business Insider reiterates this point, it has noted that, “[Xinjiang] is home to some of the most important elements of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)”. Bloomberg calls BRI China’s “project of the century”. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, proposed the BRI in 2013. Often referred to as the “21st century silk road”, BRI would establish a trading route for more than 71 countries, connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe. Since 2018, at least 157 nations and international organizations have already signed on to the project.
The BRI aims to connect these vast regions through the developments of railroads, gas piplines, and other infrastructural projects, including banks and a main maritime route. Business Insider noted that an estimated $1 trillion to $8 trillion have been invested into the project by China alone. The media giant further noted that trade between China and countries along the BRI totalled $1.3 trillion in 2018.
The illustration above shows Xinjiang at the center of the BRI, connecting China to central Asia, Afria, the Middle East and Europe. Coupled with Xinjiang’s rich natural energy reserves the region has become, arguably, the dominant source of energy for China, as well as being vital to China’s overall economic development, progress, and security.
