URUMQI - Per capita disposable income for rural residents grew 8 percent year on year to reach 10,183 yuan (about 1,454 U.S. dollars) in 2016 in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

"It is the first time the figure beat the 10,000 yuan mark," said Xu Bin, head of the regional statistics bureau.

The regional economy grew 7.6 percent year on year in 2016, 0.9 percentage points above the national growth rate. The region's GDP reached 961.7 billion yuan (139.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, with continued expansion of the tertiary sector.

Xu said that policies to boost employment were the main reasons for the growth of rural incomes. The local government has helped farmers to find jobs in cities other than their hometown.

He said that taxes had been reduced for small businesses in rural areas and loans were given to farmers, adding that farmers made more money in 2016 from cotton growing, a main agricultural industry in Xinjiang.