Xinjiang NPC deputy shares goji berry's role in Jinghe county's rural vitalization

Jinghe county in the Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is known for its goji berry industry, which thrives on the area's alkaline sandy soil, meltwater from the Tianshan Mountains, and abundant sunlight. It's a natural advantage that the county has turned into a driver of rural vitalization.

According to Wu Wenxiu, a village official from Tuoli town and a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, Jinghe now has some 20 specialized cooperatives and more than 20 self-owned brands, producing over 80 deep-processed products, including fresh-preserved goji berries, goji berry puree, and assorted drinks. The county has also built modern storage facilities, cold-chain logistics systems, and sorting and grading centers.

To market these products, it has more than 40 e-commerce enterprises, with goods exported to 23 countries and regions. With technological support, freshly picked goji berries can be delivered to more than 20 provinces and municipalities across the country within a day, with an average price of about 120 yuan ($17.45) per kilogram.

Speaking during the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, Wu noted that the goji berry industry has brought tangible benefits to Jinghe residents. Farmers earn income from fresh fruit sales and gain additional revenue by working at processing plants and investing in cooperatives to obtain dividends. The county is also developing berry picking and agritainment experiences for tourism.

The industry has created 32,000 jobs for people of various ethnic groups in the county. Wu shared the stories of two local growers. Chen Huajing, a farmer in Tuoli, started with just 0.267 hectares of goji berries. With support from the government and the cooperative he joined, he learned updated techniques, expanded his planting area, and diversified sales channels. He now earns more than 200,000 yuan a year.

Another grower, Aman Osman from Yongjihu village in the same town, has turned to livestreaming to sell products, selling an average of one metric ton of goji berries per month and earning a stable monthly income of 15,000 yuan.

Wu said that through her research visits across Xinjiang as an NPC deputy, she has come to see that Jinghe's transformation is a reflection of the broader rural vitalization underway across the region.

In recent years, Xinjiang has prioritized agricultural and rural modernization by accelerating the development of high-quality agricultural and livestock product bases and supporting the growth of related processing industries.

According to a government work report released at the annual regional legislative session in January, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Xinjiang exceeded 20,000 yuan for the first time in 2025. Over the past five years, this figure has grown at an average annual rate of 8.1 percent.