The XJBT was severely damaged during the Cultural Revolution, and was outright abolished in 1975, before being re-established in 1981, partly due to the Soviet-Afghan War.

In its history, the XJBT has built farms, towns, and cities, provided land and employment to disbanded military units, and re-settled Han migrants from other parts of China in what has been called a campaign of assimilation.

The XJBT operates cities, where it provides prisons, healthcare, policing, judiciary, and education, and has stakes in numerous publicly traded companies.

In 1962, after the Sino-Soviet split, rioting occurred in Yining and 60,000 ethnic minorities living near the border fled to the Soviet Union.

[12] Starting in the 1980s, a stated task has been to prevent and break down "destructive activities of the three forces", (separatism, religious extremism, and terrorism), in order to protect social stability and national unity.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioner Nury Turkel remarked, "Now, no business can claim ignorance of China's oppression of the Uyghur people.

We hope the sanctions signal to other Chinese officials that there are costs associated with taking part in the Communist Party's repression of religion.

"[13] Turkel added: The XPCC is essentially a parallel government in Xinjiang and has been directly involved in implementing the surveillance, mass detention, and forced labor of Uyghurs.

[14]In July 2020, the United States announced Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on XJBT in connection with human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

[15][14][16] XJBT was alleged to run many internment camps,[17] as well as implementing the CCP's efforts to settle ethnic Han in the region.

[21] In March 2021, the Council of the European Union listed the XJBT public security bureau as an entity subject to restrictive measures.

[22] The reason given for this listing was that this entity is "responsible for serious human rights violations, in particular large-scale arbitrary detentions and degrading treatment inflicted upon Uyghurs and people from other Muslim ethnic minorities".

[27] The XJBT's internal affairs, including the administration of its cities and reclaimed land, is separate from that of the Autonomous Region and under direct control of the central government.

[citation needed] The XJBT's 14 divisions which are then subdivided into 185 regiment-level entities (including regiments, farms, and ranches), scattered throughout Xinjiang, mostly in previously unpopulated or sparsely populated areas.

[citation needed] The XJBT has settled Han in Xinjiang[30] and has built eleven medium-sized cities during its history, and now controls ten of them.

XJBT is also involved in tertiary industries, including trade, distribution, real estate, tourism, construction and insurance.