The State Council issued a guideline on June 25 to support the development of the textile and clothing industry in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, with the aim of boosting employment and the urbanization drive.

The rapid development of this industry is an important part of building Xinjiang into a “core area” of the Silk Road economic belt, according to the guideline issued by the General Office of the State Council

It will also help to optimize the region’s economic structure, add more jobs, and accelerate the process of urbanization, thus bringing greater social order and stability to Xinjiang.

The government will strengthen guidance and let the market play a decisive role in allocating resources, in order to create a fair and competitive environment for the sustainable development of the industry.

Enterprises will play a major role in carrying on the industries transferred from eastern and central China, as well as fostering the textile and clothing industry and companies with local characteristics. Efforts will also be carried out to develop outbound markets in Central Asia, Russia and other European countries.

The guideline also listed the specific goals for the development of this industry in Xinjiang, including:

By 2020, the scale and technologies of the cotton textile industry in Xinjiang will rank top across the country; the clothing and clothing accessories industry, home textile industry and the knitting industry will begin to take shape; the cultivation of industries with local characteristics such as handmade carpets will see remarkable progress; employment will be obviously boosted and Xinjiang will be basically built into an important national base of the cotton textile industry and a production base for clothing and clothing accessories in the Northwestern region and the core area of the Silk Road economic belt.

To ensure the goals, the central government will carry out a series of polices and measures including increasing financial input into the development of the textile and clothing industry in Xinjiang, studying and formulating financial measures to guide banking institutions in the region to give a priority to the industry when offering loans.

The local government in Xinjiang is also encouraged to guarantee public services for the industrial development by introducing supportive policies.