On the evening of February 22, He Jiaolong, an official and social media influencer in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region appeared in her Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) livestream, to promote agricultural products from the region. The products she was selling included local specialties such as corn from Altay Prefecture and fragrant pears from Korla City.

In October 2020, a video of her riding a horse across a snowy plain brought her, then deputy head of Zhaosu County in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, to public attention. Against the vast, desolate snowscape, she galloped freely in a red coat, generating 600 million views. The video was a promotional video for agricultural products from Xinjiang.

Faced with sluggish sales of Xinjiang agricultural products in May 2020, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture took a proactive approach by encouraging officials to promote local goods online. This initiative marked a pivotal moment for her, setting her on a path of promoting Xinjiang's agricultural bounty through livestreaming. By July of last year, she had conducted nearly 400 livestreaming sessions, driving an impressive 360 million yuan ($50 million) in sales. She is now director of the brand building and production and sales center of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang.

Xinjiang, a vast region covering over 1.66 million square km, one sixth of China's land territory, has a diverse landscape of mountains, lakes, grasslands and deserts. This rich terrain fosters a thriving agricultural industry, producing a wide array of products. While traditional staples like dates, walnuts, grapes, pears and apples remain significant, Xinjiang has also seen a surge in popularity for newer agricultural products, including goji berries, figs, almonds, camel milk and chickpeas. By the end of 2024, 206 Xinjiang agricultural products had been recognized as national famous-brand, special, excellent and new agricultural products.

The Center of Agro-product Safety and Quality, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, identifies products for this list based on stringent criteria: significant production scale and commodity quantity, pronounced regional characteristics and unique nutritional quality, a stable supply and established consumer market, and high public recognition and reputation.

Blessed with an abundance of agricultural offerings, Xinjiang is exploring diverse approaches to expand the reach of its agricultural products to a wider consumer base beyond leveraging e-commerce platforms.

Enhancing quality

"To ensure Xinjiang's distinctive agricultural products reach national and international markets, the priority is strengthening their quality," Liu Wujun, Director of the Department of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction at Xinjiang Agricultural University (XJAU), told Xinjiang Daily.

"Each region should focus on developing its most advantageous and distinctive agricultural products. This targeted approach will guarantee sustainable development and establish a robust foundation for the quality of these unique agricultural offerings," Liu added.

Pishan County in Hotan Prefecture exemplifies this focus on localized development, particularly through its recent efforts to promote Pishan Red Sheep breeding to boost income for local farmers.

The Pishan Red Sheep, native to the county, is distinguished by its high reproductive rate, producing two litters per year, with each litter yielding one to four lambs. As early as 2017, a working team in Lanshan Village, conducting routine household visits, discovered that many villagers owned sheep capable of producing three to four lambs per litter, significantly exceeding the breeding capacity of typical sheep breeds.

These working teams, comprised of members from Party and state organs, state-owned enterprises and public institutions, are tasked with contributing to rural industry development, supporting villagers in increasing their income, and promoting high-quality agricultural and rural development.

Recognizing the potential, the working team invited three experts from XJAU to conduct on-site investigations. The experts selected sheep from 10 farmers' households and performed gene and reproductive performance testing on over 60 animals. After a year of research, they confirmed the sheep as a new breed. Furthermore, the research team determined that this unique sheep existed only in two townships within Pishan, leading to the designation Pishan Red Sheep.

This identification significantly strengthened the working team's confidence in developing the red sheep industry within the county. In collaboration with the Pishan County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, the team provided comprehensive sheep breeding technology training to local farmers.

In 2019, the working team facilitated the introduction of Xinjiang Xiyu Muyangren Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Technology Co. Ltd. to establish a sheep breeding farm in Lanshan.

The company implemented an innovative business model: Leveraging government subsidies, they distribute pregnant ewes to farmers and subsequently repurchase the lambs at a guaranteed minimum market price. This approach effectively incentivizes farmers to raise Pishan Red Sheep while mitigating their concerns about potential market risks. As a result, over 180 households in the village raised 3,000 red sheep that year, marking a significant first step toward large-scale, industrialized development.

Building on this success, in 2021, the working team secured 56 million yuan ($7.7 million) in government funding to construct both a Pishan Red Sheep fattening base and a breeding base. The fattening base has an annual output of over 180,000 sheep, while the breeding base produces over 40,000 pregnant purebred ewes annually. This initiative has provided employment opportunities for 72 villagers, with an average monthly income of 5,000 yuan ($688) per person.

The Pishan Red Sheep breeding has also spread to other parts of the county. Currently, the total number of Pishan Red Sheep in the county stands at 322,400. This substantial scale has made it a pillar industry of the county, playing a vital role in the development of the local economy.

Leveraging brand power

Beyond enhancing product quality, Xinjiang is promoting its agricultural products through strategic brand building initiatives.

Nilka County in Ili serves as a prime example, leveraging brand power to promote its distinctive black bee honey both domestically and internationally.

The Xinjiang black bee is a unique sub-species renowned for producing superior honey, a quality attributed to the county's favorable climate and abundance of nectar-rich flowering plants.

Nilka has over 260 nectar-producing plant species. From mid-March to the end of August, a diverse array of these plants bloom in succession. Notably, more than 70 of these plants possess unique medicinal and health benefits. Consequently, the Xinjiang Black Bee Honey produced in the county is characterized by its rich and mellow flavor, a distinctive aroma reminiscent of Chinese medicinal herbs, and exceptional medicinal value.

In recognition of its exceptional honey, the county was awarded the title of Hometown of Xinjiang Black Bee Honey at the National Apiculture Conference, held in Xinxian County, Henan Province, on November 25, 2023. Bolstered by this brand recognition, Nilka black bee honey is now widely sold both within China and abroad.

Another significant initiative is the Taste Xinjiang program, launched in 2023 by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang, with the aim of selecting high-quality products and establishing a cohesive brand image for Xinjiang agriculture.

To date, Taste Xinjiang has selected 239 brands and 631 products, encompassing a wide range of categories including grains and oils, cotton and textiles, fruits and vegetables, and animal products. Since 2024, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Xinjiang has authorized the establishment of two physical stores in Beijing and Changsha, Hunan Province, dedicated to selling products selected through the Taste Xinjiang program. Furthermore, the department has launched eight Taste Xinjiang official flagship stores on popular online platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou. Combined online and offline sales of agricultural products included in the Taste Xinjiang initiative have cumulatively reached 28.3 billion yuan ($3.9 billion), demonstrating the program's significant impact on boosting agricultural sales. BR

(Print Edition Title: Cultivating Success)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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