Premier Li Keqiang stressed the importance of infrastructure construction in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region when he took part in a group discussion on March 10 with deputies to the National People’s Congress (NPC) from the region.

He said more transportation, water conservancy and electric power projects should be built in Xinjiang, making it a more convenient place to live.

Strengthening infrastructure construction would have inestimable significance to the development of Xinjiang and national security, and it is also the focus of balancing the development in western and eastern areas, said the Premier.

Development is the key point to solving the problems and without it, people’s livelihoods would not be improved, he said.

It is also the foundation of social stability, and in turn, that will build a good social atmosphere for the development, so the government in Xinjiang should speed up local development and build a solid economic basis for the stability there, the Premier said.

Unity is the lifeline that governs the happiness and well-being of all ethnic groups of Xinjiang, Premier Li said, urging great efforts to ensure ethnic unity and social stability.

He likened a Han ethnic group’s proverb: “Brothers who fight with one heart can break metal” to a saying in Xinjiang that: “The biggest strength lies in working together”.

When he was invited by the NPC deputies to visit Xinjiang, the Premier said he will spare time to visit and would take solutions to local difficulties raised by deputies during the discussion with him.