Support from Suzhou benefits Xinjiang students

Ning Lianfeng, headmaster of Artux Kunshan Yucai School, is proud to see how the school has evolved during her time in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Before Ning left the city of Artux for home, a "future classroom" had been built, connecting it with educational resources in Kunshan city, which is under the administration of Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

"Students in the 'future classroom' in Xinjiang can now attend classes taught by renowned teachers in Suzhou," she said.

Meanwhile, renowned teachers from Suzhou can also be invited to give special lectures for students in Artux, she added.

Ning, who is originally from Suzhou, reluctantly bade farewell to teachers and students on campus when her time in Xinjiang ended in early July.

Xie Xiaogang, deputy headmaster of Artux Kunshan Yucai School, traveled to all high schools in Artux during his four and a half years in Xinjiang to establish a joint team for junior high school Chinese language teaching.

Xie also taught more than 20 local Chinese language teachers. According to authorities, Suzhou has sent 111 officials and 840 skilled professionals to aid Xinjiang's development and has established nearly 800 projects in the northwestern Chinese region since 2010.

The officials and professionals from Suzhou have drawn on the wisdom and experience of Suzhou's development, focusing on practicality and innovation, and working together with their Xinjiang counterparts on the path of high-quality development, authorities said.

In addition to educational aid to Xinjiang, Suzhou has invested in science and technology, new energy, culture, new materials, medical and agricultural projects in its targeted aid to cities and counties in Xinjiang, including Horgos and Artux cities and Gongliu county.

Horgos is an important window for China to open to the West and a "golden port" connecting Asian and European continents. Its foreign trade, cross-border e-commerce and related industries have developed rapidly in recent years.

To meet the growing demand, Horgos Technical School, which was built by Suzhou's Xinjiang-Aid Working Group, closely follows the local situation and has opened 10 program majors including international trade, e-commerce and modern logistics.

The school, which officially started operation in 2020, now has more than 1,400 students.

In Artux, a Kunshan medical team has conducted a mentorship program to guide and train local medical staff and has promoted the construction of a comprehensive medical technology building, while carrying out major cancer and predelivery screening for local obstetrics and pregnant women.

Since the establishment of a digital angiography operating room in Gongliu, more than 200 cardiac surgeries have been carried out, while in Horgos, doctors from Suzhou have promoted the establishment of the city's first emergency and intensive care medicine unit.

According to authorities, the new campus of Artux People's Hospital is fully funded by Kunshan.

Suzhou authorities said the city has contributed a total of 6.98 billion yuan ($983 million) in aid to Xinjiang. They said the city will seek common development with Xinjiang, comprehensively strengthen two-way cooperation and deepen integration to promote the high-quality development of aid to the region.

Yu Mingsheng, vice-chairman of Xinjiang Federation of Industry and Commerce, said he hoped to construct an exchange and cooperation platform for enterprise between Xinjiang and Suzhou to promote high-quality socioeconomic development.

Yu said Xinjiang expects to deepen industrial synergy in new energy, new materials and related sectors and expand cooperation in trade logistics, foreign investment, trade facilitation, cultural tourism, and agricultural and related industries in the months to come. In early August Yu led an inspection delegation to visit Suzhou and held meetings with officials and entrepreneurs to expand cooperation.