China prioritizes basic subsistence and development as fundamental human rights. It is also committed to advancing human rights comprehensively, covering economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, along with civil and political rights. Some in the developed world may not fully appreciate this priority as being equally, if not more, crucial than the rights their own society traditionally underlines.

Take Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest for instance, which covers an area of 1.66 million square km, about one sixth of China's total land area.

With a population of more than 25.8 million, the region is home to all of China's 56 ethnic groups, the four largest ones there being the Uygur (11.6 million), the Han (10.9 million), the Kazak (1.5 million) and the Hui (1.1 million), according to official figures.

The government has implemented initiatives focusing on infrastructure, education, healthcare and employment to boost the region's development. Over 70 percent of the regional government's fiscal expenditures every year are allocated toward improving the wellbeing of all its residents.

The region's GDP, an indicator of an economy's size and health, rose from 840 billion yuan ($117.5 billion) in 2013 to 1.91 trillion yuan ($270 billion) in 2023. Its residents' per-capita disposable income increased from 13,700 yuan ($1,917) in 2013 to 28,947 yuan ($4,023) in 2023.

As of late 2020, Xinjiang had eliminated absolute poverty. The region has since joined the national drive to pursue common prosperity, a people-centered development vision aligned with the broader goals of China to ensure inclusive growth where no individual is left behind.

In November 2023, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the 22nd in China and the first in the country's northwestern border regions, was inaugurated. In China, these zones are designated areas where special economic policies and regulations are tested to promote trade liberalization, investment and economic development.

Xinjiang's new zone is set to transform the inland region into a new frontier of the country's further opening up, unlocking massive potential for its future growth.

In recent years, however, the region has faced Western sanctions over unsubstantiated allegations of human rights abuses. But in effect, banning Xinjiang goods in the name of protecting human rights may only deny many the development opportunities they deserve.