BEIJING - Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Uygur population in China's Xinjiang has maintained a relatively high growth rate, said a white paper issued Sunday by the State Council Information Office.

The Uygur population grew at a compound annual growth rate of 1.67 percent during the first two decades in the 21st century from over 8.34 million to over 11.62 million, according to the white paper titled "Xinjiang Population Dynamics and Data."

The growth rate was much higher than that of the country's ethnic minority population, which stood at 0.83 percent, said the document.