Xinjiang locals answer questions from reporters

Question 7: The government at all levels in Xinjiang supported those who are willing and able to start their own businesses. We'd like to invite some of those entrepreneurs present today to talk about how the government helped them to overcome difficulties.

Answer: My name is Kalibnur Kurban, I live in Old Town Street, Turpan city. Our family started a company and I am the CEO. I'd like to tell you the start up experience of my family.

My father came to Turpan from Hotan prefecture 29 years ago. He supported my family by wandering the streets and selling carpets. His business blossomed due to his diligence and integrity. Later, our family opened a 560 squares meters carpet shop in the downtown of Turpan. The carpets we sold all came from Hotan, which was more than 1000 km away. It meant high cost of transportation. In order to pass on the ancient skills of carpet weaving, my father decided to open a hand-woven carpet factory in Turpan after discussions with our families.

In 2013, my father told his idea of opening the hand-woven carpet factory to the municipal government of Turpan. The municipal government actively supported us to open the factory and gave us lots of help in choosing locations and going through the procedures. We were short of money to start up. The municipal government coordinated 100,000 yuan of Middle and Small-sized Enterprises Fund and solved our problems. We bought 14 machines and built the factory. In 2015, my father's dream of opening his own factory was realized. And the hand-woven carpet factory was officially landed in Turpan.

At the beginning, the community helped my father to recruit carpet weaving masters from Hotan prefecture and workers from the local region. During the process of expanding our business, the community helped us to choose locations for dying workshop and warehouse. They also suggested us to build a carpet museum at the first floor of the company to enlarge the influence of our brand. We bought 80 looms for hand-woven Etles Silk with subsidized loans coordinated by the government. Thus the weaving skills of Etles Silk was better inherited and developed.

At present, our company covers an area of 5,000 square meters. There is one carpet production line, one Etles Silk production line and 70 workers. Every year, they produce 1,500 square meters hand-woven carpets and 38,000 sets of Etles Silk. The yearly income of the company reaches 15 million yuan. In the future, we will continue to expand our company and carry on the brand of hand-woven ethnic carpets and Etles Silk to make our brand known to China and the world. The ethnic traditional culture of Xinjiang will be better inherited and more jobs created, more people will get rich.