From desert to oasis: trans-regional job offers help Xinjiang farmers shake off poverty
02:16

Located between a desert and mountains, 63 percent of Qira County in south Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture is covered by desert, with only 3.7 percent oasis, making it an extremely poverty-stricken region. As the arid county is hardly suitable for human settlement, relocation became one of the main ways to lift residents out of poverty. Zorehan Metniyaz, a 35-year-old woman who used to feed her family by herding sheep in a village, began learning greenhouse vegetable growing skills in 2018 after moving to Jinnan New Village. A year later, she made 35,000 yuan – about five times more than before. After tasting the sweet, she rented another greenhouse to plant strawberry. Chen Pengfei, chief of the Jinnan New Village CPC Branch, said that "our basic job is like a bridge, introducing people to different positions based on their personal preferences."