Xinjiang officials boost local development by attracting massive viewership on short-video sharing platforms

Inspired by a pioneering official who has been promoting local development on short-video platforms, more officials in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have started following suit, attracting a huge audience online.

He Jiaolong, a former deputy head of Zhaosu county, rides a horse to promote the county in Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Renagul Rehman, head of the culture and tourism bureau of Shaya county, Aksu prefecture, has continually worked to introduce tourism resources in the county on short-video platforms. In less than a year, she has accumulated over 900,000 followers online. Taken together, the 50 or more short-video clips she has uploaded online have garnered over 100 million views.

In one video, she dressed up in a traditional costume made of local Atlas silk and said that “the best populus diversifolia forests of the world are in China, while the best of China are in Xinjiang,” while inviting netizens to come enjoy the beautiful populus diversifolia trees in Shaya.

She started producing the videos after she was inspired by her pioneering colleague, He Jiaolong, who is the deputy head of the culture and tourism bureau of Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Ili, Xinjiang, saying that He is “a good example for those working on the culture and tourism front.” He gained tremendous attention after uploading a short video of her riding a horse in the snow, which was used to advertise local tourism in the area. She then went on to promote industries with local features such as fruit, lavender, agricultural and husbandry. So far, her efforts have created over 2,800 job opportunities for local people and helped increase income for over 10,000 households.

Similarly, Alip Akimhan, deputy head of the culture and tourism bureau of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, has recently introduced the beautiful apricot blossoms of the county in a short video clip, which gained nearly 40,000 likes in just a few hours after it was uploaded.

Besides, Yang Caixia, head of the culture and tourism bureau of Yumin county, invited netizens to visit the county to enjoy its local culture and beautiful landscape.