Half a century ago, after the Geography Research Center, the Biological Research Center, and the Soil Research Center of the Xinjiang Branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences together with the Xinjiang Integrated Institute of Water, Soil and Biological Resources were set up, and through the comprehensive and unremitting efforts of the scientists of the older generations, a solid foundation was laid for scientific researches of resources and environment in Xinjiang. In 1998, the Xinjiang Institute of Biology, Pedology and Desert Research and the Xinjiang Institute of Geography merged as the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of Chinese Academy of Sciences beginning an innovative leap and sustainable development in the new course.
　　Since the setup of the XIEG, under the joint efforts of the leaders of three generations and all the employees, it maintains a strong developing trend and has had a significant influence on the international arid region and the regional resources and environment in Central Asia, which currently makes a positive contribution to servicing the strategic needs of the nation and promotes local social and economic development, which is praised and recognized by the academic community and all fields of the society.
　　Looking back, we are very proud of specific goals and achievements in science and technology; our researches in the five major fields have played a leading role in the Central Asian region; with fruitful science and technology outputs, more than 24 first prizes of provincial awards have been rewarded, and there have been a rapid growth in SCI papers; the number of IT talents have grown rapidly, and the science and technology team has completed the inter-generational transfer, forming a high-quality, younger team; the infrastructure has been tremendously improved while the construction of the science and technology platform has been established. Additionally, one national engineering research center, three provincial and ministerial key laboratories, three national-level field scientific research stations, and 14 research units constructed by cooperation between the CAS and local authorities have been approved and completed; being active in the construction of innovation culture, a number of national, provincial and ministerial advanced individuals have been discovered.
　　Looking ahead, we are full of confidence: "firmly rooted in the arid area in China, leading the arid area in the Central Asian, strengthening international cooperation, forming the scientific system", the objectives of the 3rd innovation phase advocated by the institute are being gradually realized; the system and mechanism reform of our institute is deepene; research team leaders are gradually emerging; five prior areas of research, three long-term research plans, and the seven major research tasks are expected to bring about more original innovation in scientific and technological and major innovation contributions.
　　In the march towards the future, we still have to practice the "seek the reality, truth, work together, and innovate" style of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and continue our institute’s spirit of "unity, development, dedication, innovation" to carry over the resplendence.