Abstract: Objective To study the epidemiological characteristics of measles in Xinjiang from 2004 to 2010 and provide evidence for the control and elimination of measles. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the surveillance data of measles in Xinjiang during this period. Results A total of 30 462 measles cases were reported with the average annual incidence of 21.33/lakh. The incidence peak was during March-July of a year. The cases under 15 years old accounted for 59.14%-85.47% of the total cases. Only 18.48% of the cases had laboratory detection result. The cases without vaccination history or with unknown vaccination history accounted for 69.80%. Conclusion It is important to increase the routine measles vaccination coverage and quality for the effective control and elimination of measles. The government should increase the investment for immunization programme and strengthen the supervison to insure the elimination of measles in planed time.