President Xi Jinping joined local officials and members of the public from all ethnic groups and walks of life on Thursday in a grand gathering in celebration of the 70th founding anniversary of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, held in Urumqi, the regional capital.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, led a central delegation to Xinjiang on Tuesday for a series of events. It was his fourth visit to the region since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012.

The event commenced at around 10:30 am. A congratulatory message from the CPC Central Committee, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the State Council, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and the Central Military Commission was read out.

On Oct 1, 1955, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, now home to over 26 million people of various ethnic groups in Northwest China, was formally established, marking a milestone in the region's development and a new success of the CPC's policies on ethnic affairs.

Addressing the event, Wang Huning, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and head of the central delegation, said that the achievements made by Xinjiang over the past seven decades have reflected the strengths of the Party's leadership and the socialist system, as well as the strong vitality of the correct and distinctively Chinese approach to handling ethnic affairs.

Xinjiang, together with the rest of the country, won the battle against poverty and completed the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Wang said. He noted that ethnic unity in Xinjiang has been further consolidated, and the sense of community for the Chinese nation has been strengthened.

As Xinjiang writes its own chapter in Chinese modernization, Wang urged continuous efforts to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership, maintain social stability, safeguard the unity of the Chinese nation, promote high-quality development centered on the people's well-being, deepen reform and expand opening-up.

He stressed that the stability and unity in Xinjiang have not come easily and must be cherished.

Efforts must be made to consolidate the region's peace, unity and stability, enhance and innovate social governance, and build a strong wall safeguarding social stability and lasting peace and security, Wang said.