A media exchange event in which government officials, university professors and researchers from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region interacted with international media workers was held on Friday in Urumqi.

Regarding certain negative claims fabricated by Western powers about Xinjiang, including "genocide" and "forced sterilization", Kaiser Abdukerim, president of Xinjiang Medical University, said such claims are obvious lies, since there was an increase of 2.54 million Uygur people from 2010 to 2018.

Zulhayat Ismayil, a vice-president of Xinjiang University, added that the growth of the Uygur population has begun to slow mainly because Uygur women's attitudes about giving birth have changed markedly. They used to be family-centered people who wanted to raise children and take care of their family members at home. But over the past decade they have been actively seeking employment and shouldering more social responsibility, she added. Many have chosen to limit their family size.

Tian Wen, head of the region's publicity department, talked about the economic and social development of the region, saying she welcomes foreign journalists who want to visit communities and travel across the rural areas of Xinjiang to get firsthand experience.

The event was organized by the All-China Journalists Association and the information office of the regional government.