China’s Xinjiang gets money, talent from ‘pairing assistance’, but is the controversial programme helping?

Beijing says that Xinjiang’s people, especially those in ethnic minority groups, benefit from the initiative, which has brought trillions of yuan to the region

But the US Department of State says billions in pairing-assistance funding has been used to build factories where alleged labour abuses take place

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China’s “pairing assistance” programme has helped lift people out of poverty in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, such as through the construction of new resettlement housing sites (above), but it also has resulted in “ghost cities”. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:00pm, 5 Oct 2021Updated: 12:12am, 6 Oct 2021

This is the second in a series of stories looking at China’s Xinjiang province and how the far-western region is coping economically under a series of US sanctions over alleged human rights violations and the widespread use of forced labour.

In spite of Xinjiang‘s vast natural beauty, a common impression of the region held by many Chinese concerns the poverty of its residents, which is often the focus of official state media reports.

The idyllic setting – including snow-capped mountains, lush forests and wide-open prairies covered in flowers – makes the autonomous region appealing to the country’s growing middle class and wealthy tourists. It has also helped boost public support for Beijing’s “pairing assistance” initiative, intended to bring resources and prosperity to the far-western region.

But the programme – a nearly quarter-century-old practice under which China’s coastal provinces and municipalities are “paired up” with cities and counties in Xinjiang to send investment and personnel directly to the region – has come under strong criticism by the US government, which has imposed tough sanctions amid allegations of unfair government subsidies and labour abuses.

03:36

Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims

What is ‘pairing assistance’?

Besides Xinjiang, other poor hinterland areas such as Tibet have also been targeted by this initiative to varying degrees since it was first rolled out in 1997.

SCMP Series

Xinjiang’s economy and the impact of US sanctions

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