Employees focus on their work at a textiles plant in Yining county in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

A promotional conference was held in Nantong in eastern Jiangsu province on Sept 16, to attract investment in a huge and ever-growing textiles industrial park in Yining county, in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The park, covering about 450,000 square meters, is a key assistance project in Xinjiang being undertaken by Nantong, which has cost nearly 2 billion yuan ($282 million) so far. A total of 10 companies are currently operating in the park, creating more than 4,500 jobs for locals.

Nantong is one of the top three home textiles production centers in the world. However, a set of problems, including staff shortages, high costs and fierce market competition, have hindered its industrial transformation and upgrade, officials said.

“Under such circumstances, Yining’s advantages in human resources and policies stand out,” said Zhu Jun, president of a textile company in the county.

The central government and the autonomous region have rolled out a set of measures to promote the development of the textiles and garments industries, including offering allowances in transportation and cotton and discounts on electricity bills.

The first part of the home textiles and garments section of the park has started operation in July 2017 and the second part will be ready in late October this year.

On completion, it will be home to 50 companies and offer jobs to more than 30,000 people. The total annual output value is expected to reach 5 billion yuan.

At the promotional conference, the Yining government also signed a cooperation agreement with a secondary vocational school in Hai’an county in Nantong. The two sides agreed to work together in training professionals in textiles technology and business management.