The Xinjinag was called Western Regions in ancient, and from of old it has been a region of multi ethnic groups inhabiting, and has been a part of sacred territory of our country. The intercourse history of Xinjiang’s all ethnic groups of people and all ethnic groups of people in inland has been time honored, the traffic of Xinjiang with inland and regions beyond the boundaries is with landway traffic as main all through the ages, the Silk Road well-known in China and foreign countries passes through the region. The opening of the Silk Road, has been communicating the economic, political and cultural exchanges of China and the West, promoting the improvement of human’s social civilization, maintaining the unification of the Nation, and enhancing the solidification of Han ethnic group and all ethnic minorities of Xinjiang.

From the road traffic of Xinjiang, especially from the development and changes of the Silk Road, it can reflect from a side that the changes of social economy, politics, military, and culture are closely related to the development and changes of traffic.
From the early stage of the Republic of China to the September 1949 before the eve of liberating Xinjiang, the road traffic development of Xinjiang was slow, that the Xinjiang did not have its first highway untill to the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928), being 21 years later than the first highway built in China, at the time of liberation of Xinjiang in September 1949, the whole Xinjiang only had  hasty road 3361 kilometers, the distribution of highway was limited to the North Xinjiang’s Urumqi City and its surrounding areas which had relatively developed economy and good geographic environment, the traffic capacity was bad, and the South Xinjiang and most parts of North Xinjiang still were in isolated condition of not having highway.

Since the execution of the "tenth-five-year" plan, along with the implementation of the western region development strategy of the Nation, the Xinjiang has been listed in the planned construction projects of the Ministry of Communications -- the construction speed for national highway trunk mains, west passageways, port highways is accelerated. At the same time, the people’s government of the autonomous region increases supporting force to the highway construction, has decided invested 7 hundred million yuan every year to be used in rural highway construction from 2003. The implementation for all these policies, speed up the Xinjiang’s highway construction steps in objectively, many prospective period planning projects have been advanced to be implemented in the "tenth-five-year" plan, the "tenth-five-year" plan is estimated to complete investment of 35 billion yuan, to use only one "five-year" to complete 55%of the originally twenty-year planned objectives.

In 2004, the whole year completed traffic fixed investment in accumulation was 10.04 billion yuan ( of which the completed highway construction investment 9.94 billion yuan), achieved historical new high point. in the 55 years from 1950 to 2004, the accumulated highway construction investment of Xinjiang reached 35.265 billion yuan, of which the State investment 14.13 billion yuan, occupying 40%, (in 46 years from 1950 to 1995, the total completed highway construction investment was 3.222 billion yuan, while in 9 years from 1996 to 2004, the completed investment was 32.043 billion yuan, this completed amount of investment in these 9 years nearly was 10 times than that of the former 46 years), up to the end of the year 2004, the total kilometers of whole Xinjiang’s highway reached 86637 (including Production and Construction Corps’s highway 24306 kilometers), of which: the express highway 431 kilometers, the first-class road 437 kilometers, the secondary road 6631 kilometers, the third class highway and highway below the third class 54832 kilometers; all the 15 prefectures and cities of whole Xinjiang opened bituminous paved road above secondary class, all 85 counties and cities opened bituminous paved road above third class, 99.5% of towns and 93% administration villages opened highway; the rural highway construction made 144 towns having improved  traffic condition, and 257 administration villages which did not open highway having opened, 2.57 million people were benefited directly, at the same time 860 administration villages solved problem of opening bituminous paved road. The class of highway, quality, and vehicle traffic capacity were enhanced greatly. Up to now, the Xinjiang has already formed basically a trunk and branch highway traffic network which is with Urumqi as center, national highway main line as frame, circling the two great basins, radiating prefectures, cities, counties, towns, and agriculture and herdsmen regiments, linking East to the Gansu and Qinghai, connecting South to the Tibet, reaching out the West to the Central Asia and West Asia countries, and reaching North to the Mongolia.

Up to the end of 2004, the total retained quantity of civil vehicles of whole Xinjiang was 500 thousand ones, of which, the passenger and freight vehicles used in business operation were 180 thousand ones. Of the four transportation modes of the whole Xinjiang, the road transportation undertook 95% of the whole social passenger capacity and 83% of freight traffic volume of Xinjiang, it was far more than the average number (91% and 75%) of the whole country.  For the whole year completed business operation road transportation, the passenger capacity was 21 hundred million person-times, the turnover volume of passenger traffic was 18.7 billion passenger-kilometers, the volume of freight traffic was 24 hundred million tons, the turnover volume of freight traffic was 28.15 billion ton-kilometers, respectively being 24.8％, 20.5％, 5.1％ and 11.1％ increased than that of same period of 2003.  The transportation concerned foreign affairs also obtained rapid development, at the present time, one after another the Xinjiang has opened 15 highway border ports to periphery countries, and 53 international passenger and cargo integrated transportation lines, the exit-entry passenger capacity of whole region’s road is 186 thousand person-times, the import and export volume of freight traffic is 1.432 million tons, the year-on-year increase is 70.1％and 29.4％, reaching the record level of the history. Along with the continual improvement of highway traffic condition, increase of national economy, and people’s living standard growth, the road transportation of Xinjiang has obtained relatively rapid development. Along with the development of rural highway construction, the rural passenger traffic develops rapid, in the whole Xinjiang, the 861 towns’ regular passenger bus traffic open rate reaches 98%, and the 9250 administration villages’ regular passenger bus traffic open rate reaches 76%. Being as support and guarantee system, the automobile passenger station construction of the road transportation basic facilities construction obtained further development, up to 2004, the autonomous region’s capital, 14 prefectures and cities locations, and 85 counties (cities) all built up automobile passenger stations, there were also 66 towns which built up passenger stations, which brought convenience to all ethnic group peoples’ trips.