A China-Europe freight train bound for Kazakhstan waits for departure at the standard-gage yard of Horgos railway port in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Dec. 25, 2024. Horgos Port, a major railway hub in Xinjiang, has facilitated 8,541 China-Europe freight train trips by Dec. 24 this year, according to statistics from the railway department of Horgos Port. (Wang Wenjie/Xinhua)

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region's GDP grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year in 2024, surpassing 2 trillion yuan ($273 billion) for the first time, according to a government work report released on Sunday.

In addition to the GDP figure, the region's major economic indicators also ranked among the top in terms of Chinese provincial localities last year.

Xinjiang's economic and social stability has been further shored up, as the region's economy gains new momentum, and its development quality and efficiency constantly improve, said Erkin Tuniyaz, chairman of the people's government of Xinjiang, during the Third Session of the 14th People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The value-added output of large-scale industries increased by 8 percent, fixed-asset investment grew by 6.9 percent, retail sales rose by 2 percent, total trade surged by 21.8 percent, and urban per capita disposable incomes increased by 5.5 percent year-on-year, the meeting was told.

The steady growth of all economic indicators reflects Xinjiang's resilience and sustained growth momentum, in the face of some Western nations' defamatory narratives and discriminatory trade measures that aim to disrupt Xinjiang's development and undermine the region's stability, a Chinese expert said.

This milestone of 2 trillion yuan in GDP means that Xinjiang's economic size has exceeded that of neighboring Kazakhstan and is well ahead of Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, as noted by the region's official WeChat account.

As China continues its opening-up policies and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) gains momentum, Xinjiang's growing importance in the country's economic landscape is becoming more evident, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"The region has demonstrated significant potential in key sectors such as agricultural mechanization and renewable energy, propelling its economic growth rate above the national average and enabling it to more seamlessly integrate with the broader national market," Li noted.

Xinjiang has made significant strides in rural revitalization, the development of new energy and all-around opening-up.

In the past year, the region's grain production increased by 4.22 billion jin (2.11 million tons). The average grain yield per mu (0.067 hectares) reached 1,050 jin, ranking the highest in China, the regional government work report said.

The region's new-energy sector has seen robust development, with three 10-million-kilowatt new-energy bases being established. Efforts to strengthen the construction of the new-energy system have led to the integration of 40.37 million kilowatts of new energy into the regional grid, accounting for more than 50 percent of the region's total electricity generation capacity, official data showed.