| Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps | |
|---|---|
| |
.svg) National Emblem of the People's Republic of China | |
| Active | 1954 – present |
| Country |  People's Republic of China |
| Allegiance |  Chinese Communist Party |
| Type | State-owned enterprise Paramilitary organisation |
| Size | 2.6 million |
| Headquarters and area served | Ürümqi &Xinjiang |
| Nicknames | XJBT; Bingtuan |
| Divisions | 14 |
| Website | www |
| Commanders | |
| FirstPolitical Commissar | Chen Xiaojiang |
| Political Commissar and Party Secretary | He Zhongyou |
| Commander | Xue Bin |
| Notable commanders | Tao Zhiyue[1] |
| Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps | |||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 新疆生产建设兵团 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 新疆生產建設兵團 | ||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 新疆兵团 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 新疆兵團 | ||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 兵团 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 兵團 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | The Corps | ||||||
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| China Xinjian Group | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国新建集团 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國新建集團 | ||||||
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| Uyghur name | |||||||
| Uyghur | شىنجاڭ ئىشلەپچىقىرىش قۇرۇلۇش بىڭتۇەنى | ||||||
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TheXinjiang Production and Construction Corps (新疆生产建设兵团; abbreviated as 新疆兵团, or commonly asXPCC in English), also known asBingtuan, trading with theexternal nameChina Xinjian Group,[2] is astate-owned enterprise andparamilitary organization in theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC).
The XPCC was established in 1954 under the orders ofMao Zedong, and developed sparsely populated areas in its early decades, taking the model of the traditionaltuntian system of setting military units in frontier areas. The XPCC was severely damaged during theCultural Revolution, and was outright abolished in 1975, before being re-established in 1981, partly due to theSoviet-Afghan War. It re-established its economic dominance over Xinjiang afterwards, also being responsible for maintenance against the "three evils" (separatism, religious extremism, and terrorism). In its history, the XPCC has built farms, towns, and cities, provided land and employment to disbanded military units, and re-settledHan migrants from other parts of China in what has been called a campaign ofassimilation andSinicization of the localUyghur population.
The XPCC operates cities, where it provides prisons, healthcare, policing, judiciary, and education, and has stakes in numerous publicly traded companies. It is extensively involved in economic, political and military affairs of Xinjiang, being called a "state in a state".[3][4]
The XPCC draws from the traditional Chinesetuntian system, a policy of settling military units in frontier areas so that they become self-sufficient in food, and similar policies in theTang andQing dynasties.[5] Construction corps were set up for sparsely populated frontier regions, includingHeilongjiang,Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang.
After theChinese Communist Party took control of Xinjiang in 1949,People's Liberation Army (PLA) forces deployed into Xinjiang were commanded to start production in the area. In 1953, PLA there were separated into National Defense and Production Divisions. XPCC was formed from soldiers fromFirst Field Army,Kuomintang,[5] and from the localIli National Army.[6]
In October 1954 the Production Division was ordered by theMao Zedong to form People's Liberation Army Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, tasked to "Integrate labor with violent, colonize and populate the frontier" in 1954.[7][1][8] XPCC was founded byWang Zhen. It initially comprised 175,000 military personnel, led byTao Zhiyue as its first commander.[6]
XPCC was initially focused on settling, cultivating, and developing sparsely populated areas, such as the fringes of theTaklamakan Desert and theGurbantünggüt Desert, under the principle of "not competing for benefits with the local people".[9] It provided areserve military force, although they were not called upon.[6][5] XPCC was expanded by youth from other parts of China, to equalize its sex ratio and include members with better education. In 1962, after theSino-Soviet split, rioting occurred inYining and 60,000 ethnic minorities living near the border fled to the Soviet Union. The Chinese government feared that the USSR was trying to destabilize China[5] and start a war.[6] XPCC was ordered to cultivate the farms of the exiles.[6]
The XPCC was severely damaged by theCultural Revolution. In 1975 it was abolished completely. Its powers were transferred to the government of Xinjiang and regional authorities.[9] After theSoviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and the Islamic movements gained force, fears of Soviet encirclement andIslamic fundamentalism led to the re-establishment of the XPCC in 1981[9] as well as the cultivation of frontier lands and economic development.[9] During the 1990s, XPCC began to contribute significantly to Xinjiang's economy, producing 40% of the region's cotton in 1997.[10] After 2008, as a result of improvements in farm mechanization, students were no longer compelled to pick the cotton crop.[11]
Starting in the 1980s, a stated task has been to prevent and break down "destructive activities of thethree forces", (separatism, religious extremism, and terrorism), in order to protect social stability and national unity.[7] In 2012, XPCC generated 11.1 billion yuan from the 37 settlements they control, "allowing the Corps to spread advanced culture and Chinese culture, while taking in and infusing culture of ethnic minority in Xinjiang".[7]
At the end of the 20th century, XPCC's military role was given instead to theXinjiang Military District, a part of the currentWestern Theater Command that includes all of western China. XPCC military personnel are mostly reservists or militia.[citation needed]
XPCC was sanctioned by the United States in 2020, citing alleged human rights abuses.United States Commission on International Religious Freedom CommissionerNury Turkel remarked, "Now, no business can claim ignorance of China's oppression of the Uyghur people. We hope the sanctions signal to other Chinese officials that there are costs associated with taking part in the Communist Party's repression of religion. The world is watching and we know which officials and entities are responsible for the abuses against the Uyghur people."[12] Turkel added:
The XPCC is essentially a parallel government in Xinjiang and has been directly involved in implementing the surveillance, mass detention, and forced labor of Uyghurs.[13]
In July 2020, the United States announcedGlobal Magnitsky Actsanctions on XPCC in connection with human rights abuses againstUyghurs and other ethnic minorities.[14][13][15] XPCC was alleged to run manyinternment camps,[16] as well as implementing the CCP's efforts tosettle ethnicHan in the region.[17][15]
In December 2020, theU.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that XPCC-produced cotton and cotton products would be prohibited from import into the U.S. due to forced labor concerns.[18] In June 2021, theUnited States Department of Commerce placed XPCC on theBureau of Industry and Security'sEntity List.[19]
Following the U.S. footsteps,Global Affairs Canada imposed sanctions against the XPCC in January 2021 due to human rights abuses.[20]
In March 2021, theCouncil of the European Union listed the XPCCpublic security bureau as an entity subject to restrictive measures.[21] The reason given for this listing was that this entity is "responsible for serious human rights violations, in particular large-scale arbitrary detentions and degrading treatment inflicted upon Uyghurs and people from other Muslim ethnic minorities".[22]
The XPCC is a ministerial-level institution under theState Council and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region regional government.[23] It has administrative authority over medium-sized cities, settlements and farms in Xinjiang. It provides services such as healthcare, policing, judiciary, and education. Nominally subject to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, its internal affairs, including city and reclaimed land administration, are separate from that of the Autonomous Region and under direct control of the central government. The XPCC has been described to operate as a "state within a state"[24][25][26] and has been considered by scholars as acting as a de facto prefecture-level governmental entity.[26]
The XPCC's internal affairs, including the administration of its cities and reclaimed land, is separate from that of the Autonomous Region and under direct control of the central government.[27] It has sub-provincial powers on par withsub-provincial cities. The XPCC is headed by theParty Secretary of Xinjiang, who is "executivepolitical commissar"ex officio. TheXPCC's own party secretary, usually a ministerial-level official,[23] typically concurrently serves as its political commissar and acts as its highest day-to-day authority, and is considered to be the second most-powerful person in Xinjiang after the CCP secretary.[28] Additionally XPCC has a commander, usually a deputy-ministerial level official.[23]
Headquartered inÜrümqi, XPCC is subdivided intodivisions, thenregiments. Each XPCC division corresponds to aprefecture-level administrative division, and are in themselves of sub-prefectural rank. In addition to regiments, the XPCC also administers regiment-level farms and ranches (团场). Frontier regiment farms (边疆农场) served a secondary function of preventing defection and were created along the border after theYi–Ta incident in 1962.[29][30][31] XPCC and each individual division are headed by three leaders: a first political commissar, a political commissar, and a commander. The first political commissars of each XPCC division are their committee secretaries.[citation needed]
The XPCC's 14 divisions which are then subdivided into 185 regiment-level entities (including regiments, farms, and ranches), scattered throughout Xinjiang, mostly in previously unpopulated or sparsely populated areas.
The divisions are:
| Name | Founded | Location (approximate) | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Division | 1953 | Aksu Prefecture | Aral |
| 2nd Division | 1953 | Bayingolin Autonomous Prefecture | Tiemenguan |
| 3rd Division | 1966 | Kashgar Prefecture | Tumxuk |
| 4th Division | 1953 | Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (southern, directly administered portion) | Kokdala |
| 5th Division | 1953 | Bortala Autonomous Prefecture | Shuanghe |
| 6th Division | 1953 | Changji Autonomous Prefecture | Wujiaqu |
| 7th Division | 1953 | Ili Autonomous Prefecture andKaramay | Huyanghe |
| 8th Division | 1953 | area east ofKaramay | Shihezi |
| 9th Division | 1962 | Tacheng Prefecture | Emin County |
| 10th Division | 1959 | Altay Prefecture | Beitun |
| 11th Division the formerConstruction Division | 1953 | Ürümqi | Xinshi, Ürümqi |
| 12th Division | 1982 | Ürümqi | Ürümqi |
| 13th Division | 1982 | Hami | Hami |
| 14th Division | 1982 | Hotan Prefecture | Kunyu |
In May 1953, the PLA's 25th, 26th and 27th Divisions from the9th Corps were reorganized as 7th, 8th and 9th Agriculture Construction Division of the XPCC, respectively.[citation needed]
The XPCC has settled Han in Xinjiang[32] and has built eleven medium-sized cities during its history, and now controls ten of them.[33] The governments of these cities are combined entirely with the division that controls them. For example, the division headquarters is the same entity as the city government, the division political commissar the same person as the city committee secretary, the division commander the same person as the city's mayor, and so forth. Ten XPCC-administered cities are nominally listed as "sub-prefectural-level cities" of Xinjiang, but the local government is usually not involved in the administration of these cities.
| Name | Dates of official designation as a "city" | Governing period | Division | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kuytun[6] | 奎屯市 | August 29, 1975 | 1953–1975 | 7th | |
| ↳ | Tianbei New Area | 天北新区 | – | 2002–2019 | |
| Shihezi[9] | 石河子市 | January 2, 1976 | 1953–1975, 1980–present | 8th | |
| Aral | 阿拉尔市 | January 19, 2004 | 1953–1975, 1980–present | 1st | |
| Wujiaqu[9] | 五家渠市 | January 19, 2004 | 1953–1975, 1980–present | 6th | |
| Tumxuk | 图木舒克市 | January 19, 2004 | 1966–1975, 1980–present | 3rd | |
| Beitun | 北屯市 | November 28, 2011 | 2002–present | 10th | |
| Tiemenguan | 铁门关市 | December 30, 2012 | 2002–present | 2nd | |
| Shuanghe | 双河市 | February 26, 2014 | 2002–present | 5th | |
| Kokdala | 可克达拉市 | March 18, 2015 | 2003–present | 4th | |
| Kunyu | 昆玉市 | January 20, 2016 | 2003–present | 14th | |
| Huyanghe | 胡杨河市 | December 6, 2019 | 2010–present | 7th | |
| Xinxing | 新星市 | February 4, 2021 | 2010–present | 13th | |
| Baiyang | 白杨市 | January 20, 2023 | 2010–present | 9th | |
| Beiting | 北亭市 | TBD | 2010–present | 12th | |
 | Parts of this article (those related to recent population numbers and trends – they have yearly official reports, see e.g.2017) need to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2022) |
XPCC is predominantly composed of Chinese citizens of Han ethnicity.[23] While the Han are by far the largest group of XPCC workers, their relative numbers have declined: from 1980 to 1993 the overall population remained constant, while Han membership declined slightly from 90% to 88%.[5]
| Ethnic groups in XPCC, 2002 estimate[34] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Population | Percentage |
| Han | 2,204,500 | 88.1 |
| Uyghur | 165,000 | 6.6 |
| Hui | 64,700 | 2.6 |
| Kazakh | 42,700 | 1.7 |
| Mongol | 6,200 | 0.3 |
| Others | 18,100 | 0.7 |
XPCC created many publicly traded subsidiary companies.[35] XPCC uses the name "China Xinjian Group" for its economic activities.[9] XPCC plays an outsized role in Xinjiang's economy, with the organization producingCN¥350 billion (US$52 billion), or around 19.7% of Xinjiang's economy, while the per capita GDP was CN¥98,748 (US$14,680).[36][non-primary source needed] The area and population of the XPCC are generally given as part of Xinjiang's total figures, but XPCC's GDP is generally reported separately.[37]
XPCC's primary economic activity remainsagriculture, includingcotton,fruit,vegetables, food crops,vegetable oils, andsugar beets. Important products are cotton,tomatoes,ketchup,Korlapears,Turpangrapes, andwine. In 2018 the XPCC produced 30% of China's cotton output.[26] XPCC has a mix offactory farming and smaller farms. XPCC dominates Xinjiang's agriculture and controls nearly a quarter of Xinjiang's arable land.[33][38] During its history, XPCC established significant mining and mining-related industries, most of which subsequently were handed over to the Xinjiang government. XPCC is also involved in tertiary industries, including trade, distribution, real estate, tourism, construction and insurance.[33]
The XPCC has thousands of subsidiary companies. TheCenter for Advanced Defense Studies has identified 2,923 subsidiaries.[39] Currently the XPCC has eleven publicly traded subsidiaries.[citation needed] They are:
XPCC operates its own educational system covering primary, secondary and tertiary education (including two universities,Shihezi University (石河子大学) andTarim University (塔里木大学)); its own daily newspaper,Bingtuan Daily; and its own TV stations at both provincial and division levels.[citation needed]
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