Xinjiang's GDP growth beats the national average

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has seen rapid growth in its economy and will continue to increase the construction of new infrastructure, senior officials said.

Shokrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, said Xinjiang's GDP increased by 7.2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2017, higher than the national level of 6.9 percent.

Investment in fixed assets, a major gauge of economic vitality, saw a year-on-year rise of 27.8 percent during the period, the highest in the nation, he said, adding that the region's fiscal revenue in the six months was 29.4 percent higher than that in 2016.