Jiashi, in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is known in the Uygur language as "a beautiful and fertile place" and is famed for its fruit. Locally grown plums and their processed products are shipped across China and to overseas markets.

Plum cultivation in Jiashi has a long history but was previously unstructured and less profitable, said Dang Yu of the Jiashi County Modern Agricultural Industrial Park Development Service Center. Support from south China's Guangdong province has helped the county build a full supply chain covering cultivation, harvesting, sorting, packaging, processing, cold storage and sales, creating more than 150,000 jobs.

The county now has 570,000 mu (38,000 hectares) of plum orchards, with an estimated output of 410,000 tons in 2025, Dang said. High-quality plums can generate 50,000 to 60,000 yuan ($6,960 to $8,360) per mu. In 2024, Jiashi plums gained geographical indication product status and are now sold across China and in Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Vietnam.

Jiashi's planting area accounts for about half of China's total, and its output represents 70%. The county's alkaline soil and mineral-rich water produce plums high in anthocyanins and vitamins, with antioxidant properties and digestive benefits. In the 2024 Chinese Fruit Brand Value Evaluation, the plums' brand value reached 2.95 billion yuan.

Dang said Jiashi has built a cold chain storage system with a total capacity of 500,000 tons at the county, township and village levels to enable staggered sales and stabilize prices.

A Uygur woman packages plums at the Guangdong-Jiashi Plum Industrial Park in Jiashi county, Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Aug. 12, 2025. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]

A highlight of the Jiashi County Modern Agricultural Industrial Park is the 24-hectare Guangdong-Jiashi Plum Industrial Park, funded primarily by Guangdong province in 2021. It features four areas: a research, training and teaching zone; a demonstration and variety display zone; a cold chain logistics and intelligent sorting zone; and a deep processing and packaging zone.

Wu Congying, head of Guangdong's aid work team in Jiashi and a native of Foshan, Guangdong, said the province has helped build factories, implement preferential policies, attract investment and bring in leading enterprises such as JD.com, Huiyuan Juice Group and Shenzhen Pagoda Industrial (Group) Corporation Limited.

"We have launched promotional campaigns, directly connecting with major fruit wholesale markets in key cities nationwide to warm up the market," Wu said. "We have also helped local businesses attend the Kashgar Central & South Asia Commodity Fair to promote Jiashi plums beyond Xinjiang, across China and to the world."

Two women promote plum products via livestreaming at the Guangdong-Jiashi Plum Industrial Park in Jiashi county, Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Aug. 12, 2025. [Photo by Xu Xiaoxuan/China.org.cn]

Enterprises in the park sell not only fresh fruit but also processed goods such as dried plums, juice, jam and plum wine. Sales are boosted by e-commerce livestreaming. Zhang Yali, head of the Jiashi County E-commerce Center, said livestreaming began in 2019, with a livestream base set up in 2023. Seven professional teams and 360 trained influencers generated 6.4 million yuan in livestream sales in 2024.

The county has also developed cultural and creative products such as plum-themed ceramics and water cups, built a "Plum Town," and opened more than 30 themed homestays and agritainment resorts. These attractions draw more than 200,000 visitors each year and provide jobs for over 10,000 people.

Local resident Elminur Ablat said her family farms 5 mu (0.333 hectare) of plums. Fresh fruit is sold in August and dried plums in December, offering higher returns than cotton or corn.

"As plums produce only once a year, many farmers who used to grow Jiashi melons, cotton or raise sheep were reluctant to plant them. But after seeing the high returns, more and more have begun plum cultivation," she said.