Paired assistance puts local workers in charge at plant in NW China's Xinjiang

Abdusalam Mijit checks equipment at Hotan Conch Profiles Co., Ltd. in Pishan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (People's Daily Online/Chen Xinhui)

"This machine is malfunctioning, and material isn't flowing smoothly through the pipeline," said Abdusalam Mijit, a maintenance team leader at Hotan Conch Profiles Co., Ltd. in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. "Let's check it section by section."

An hour later, the problem was fixed. The team conducts a routine equipment inspection at 10 a.m. every day.

"Five years ago, when I first arrived, I'd never even seen this kind of equipment. I was a complete novice," he said. After more than a year of learning from a mentor, he came to understand how the machines worked. Today, he is a key technician on the company's equipment maintenance team.

The company, a key project under the paired assistance program that east China's Anhui Province provides for Xinjiang, was established in Pishan county in 2016. Over the past decade, it has made localization a core mission, aiming for local workers to eventually manage its factory.

"We encourage innovation across the workforce and have rolled out technical upgrades to overcome production bottlenecks. Many young local technicians have risen to leading roles on the front lines," said Qian Jiong, assistant to the general manager of the company.

Abdusalam Mijit has been the primary contributor to 10 innovation projects, according to the company's internal records.

Local employees now make up more than 80 percent of the company's workforce and account for 65 percent of key management and technical positions, Qian said, adding that the company has provided nearly 2,000 jobs.

Anhui has prioritized industrial aid to Xinjiang as a way to stabilize employment and boost incomes, encouraging companies to prioritize hiring local workers, said Fan Zhiqing, deputy head of Pishan county and leader of the paired assistance team under Anhui Province's command center for assistance to Xinjiang.