We have measured the positions of 74 pulsars from regular timing observations using the Nanshan radio telescope at Urumqi Observatory between 2000 January and 2004 August (MJD 5150053240). Proper motions were determined for these pulsars by comparing their current positions with positions given in pulsar catalogues. We compare our results to earlier measurements in the literature and show that, in general, the values agree. New or improved proper motions are obtained for 16 pulsars. The effect of period fluctuations and other timing noise on the determination of pulsar positions is investigated. For our sample, the mean and rms transverse velocities are 443 and 224km/s, respectively, agreeing with previous work even though we determine distances using the new NE2001 electron density model.