URUMQI -- In the golden autumn of late September, the streets of Urumqi were adorned with bright banners and fresh flowers in celebration of the 70th founding anniversary of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Amid the festive atmosphere, Chinese leader Xi Jinping made a three-day trip to the regional capital last week. Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, led a central delegation to join the celebrations, marking the first time in the history of the Party and the country that such an arrangement has been made.

This marked Xi's fourth visit to Xinjiang since he became the country's top leader. During the trip, Xi met with representatives from all ethnic groups and all walks of life in Xinjiang, visited an exhibition, listened to work reports from the CPC Xinjiang regional committee and the regional government, attended an evening gala and joined a grand celebratory gathering.

Beyond the celebrations, Xi's pivotal trip reflected the past, honored the people, and mapped out the future of this vital region.

HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS OVER 70 YEARS

On Oct 1, 1955, China's National Day, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region was established, marking the start of a new era for the region. Today, the exhibition in Urumqi highlights the remarkable changes Xinjiang has experienced in seven decades.

On one side stood dwellings made of poplar and red willow, their mud-plastered walls unable to keep out the biting winter wind; on the other, sleek two-story houses of modern design. In front of these juxtaposed reconstructions, which depict the profound transformation of people's lives after being relocated from a village in the heart of the desert in Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture, Xi paused in reflection.

The transformation seen in the lives of villagers reflects a wider story of growth and modernization across Xinjiang in 70 years.

In 2024, the region's GDP exceeded 2 trillion yuan (about $281 billion) for the first time, 204.3 times that of 1955.

All prefectures and over 90 percent of the counties in Xinjiang are now accessible by expressway, while the length of railways in the region nearly doubled the 2012 figure.

People's lives have been transformed. By 2024, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents had increased by 133-fold and 162-fold, respectively, compared with 1978.

Once a region facing widespread poverty, Xinjiang had lifted over 3 million people out of poverty by the end of 2020, as part of the nationwide anti-poverty campaign launched in 2012.

Ecological progress has also been remarkable in Xinjiang, which covers roughly one-sixth of China's territory.

The Taklimakan Desert, the world's second-largest drifting desert, is now encircled by a sand-blocking green belt stretching 3,046 kilometers, the longest of its kind globally. Over the past three decades, the region's total oasis area has expanded by 56.6 percent.

"The profound changes in Xinjiang over the past 70 years are a vivid reflection of the historic process of national rejuvenation," said Xi.