The chairperson is elected by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional People's Congress, and responsible to it and its Standing Committee.

The chairperson is a provincial level official and is responsible for the overall decision-making of the regional government.

The chairperson generally serves as the deputy secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and as a member of the CCP Central Committee.

The chairperson is the second-highest ranking official in the autonomous region after the secretary of the CCP Xinjiang Committee.

Non-partisan/ unknown   Warlords   People's Anti-Imperialist Association   Kuomintang (Nationalist) (Birth–death) 楊增新 Yáng Zēngxīn (1864–1928) 金樹仁 Jīn Shùrén (1879–1941) 劉文龍 Liú Wénlóng (1870–1950) 朱瑞墀 Zhū Ruìchí (1862–1934) 李溶 Lǐ Róng (1870–1940) 盛世才 Shèng Shìcái (1895–1970) 吳忠信 Wú Zhōngxìn (1884–1959) 張治中 Zhāng Zhìzhōng (1895–1969) 麥斯武德 مەسئۇت سابرى (1887–1952) 包爾漢 بۇرھان شەھىدى (1894–1989) (Birth–death) 堯樂博士 يۇلبارس خان (1888–1971) (Birth–death) 堯道宏 Yáo Dàohóng (1913–1991) 侯紀峪 Hóu Jìyù (1894–1989) (1915–2003) (1910–2003) (1915–2003) (1910–1998) (1935–2018) (born 1930) (born 1938) (born 1944) (born 1961) (born 1953) (born 1961) (acting from 30 September 2021)