BEIJING - China on Thursday issued a white paper titled "Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang," saying the freedom of religious belief in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region today "cannot be matched by that in any other historical period."

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Constitutional principle of freedom of religious belief has been comprehensively implemented in Xinjiang, with the citizens' freedom of religious belief fully respected and believers' normal religious needs effectively met, said the white paper released by the State Council Information Office.