BEIJING, March 30 (Reuters) – China will turn the restive capital of the far western region of Xinjiang into an “international trade centre” for central Asia by 2020 as part of plans to win the hearts and minds of residents, state media said on Wednesday.

Regional capital Urumqi was rocked by ethnic violence in 2009 between majority Han Chinese and minority Uighurs that killed nearly 200 people. Many of the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs, who call Xinjiang home, chafe at Beijing’s rule.

The government has subsequently turned its attention to boosting development there and providing greater job opportunities.

New plans for remote and dusty Urumqi call for it to be turned into a “core city”, complete with improved transport links and two brand new districts built “with world-class standards”, the Xinhua news agency said.

Urumqi will get a new rail link with central China, an expanded train station, a new airport terminal and possibly a new airport too, the report said, summarising an urban development blueprint for the city up to 2020.

“Local authorities will build faster and more convenient transportation networks to strengthen links between Urumqi and inland Chinese regions as well as areas in central and west Asia,” Xinhua added.

“Greater efforts have been made to boost the development of the far western ethnic region of Xinjiang after a deadly riot rocked Urumqi in 2009,” it added.

The city’s population is also expected to double to around 5 million by 2020, while its GDP will rise from a predicted 131.1 billion yuan ($19.9 billion) this year to 420 billion yuan by 2020, the report said.

Xinhua gave no investment figures for the ambitious scheme, nor said if any of the projects would be specifically aimed at the Uighur population.

Urumqi is a predominantly Han Chinese city. Many Uighurs complain of discrimination in the jobs market and say that government efforts to boost development in Xinjiang have mainly benefited the Han and attracted more of them to migrate there.

Xinjiang is strategically vital to China. A vast swathe of territory, it holds rich oil and gas deposits and borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. ($1 = 6.561 Yuan)

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