Minority Economy in Xinjiang—A Source of Uyghur Resentment

The characteristic feature of the geo-economic space of the People’s Republic of China is that 70 per cent of the minority population of the country is concentrated in its western region. The uneven development of the early reform period mostly affected the minority-populated areas. China’s westernmost administrative division Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is one such region which has been restive since 1990 due to an ongoing separatist movement led by Uyghurs, the majority ethnic group of the region. Alongside the regional imbalances in economic development during the reform period, due to geographical as well as historical factors, and long-term policy, a phenomenon of localized economic development has emerged that marginalized the minorities of Xinjiang to a great extent. The paper focuses on the intraregional economic disparities of the region and the economic deprivation of the Uyghurs.