Training creates stable workforce in Xinjiang textile plants

Editor's note: Xinjiang is known for its colorful landscape and diverse culture. China Daily explores this beautiful region through its many faces and facets.

Local workers who have graduated from vocational schools or trained in inland regions are the backbone of the workforce, said Li Qiang, head of a major textile enterprise in an industrial park in Aksu, a city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Azigul Rehman, 17, a newly hired worker at Huafu Top Dyed Melange Yarn, can operate five textile machines like a skilled worker.

The Uygur teenager received a salary of 2,500 yuan ($400) for her first month of work in June.

Over the past three years, she finished her studies at a vocational school in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, with one year spent on Mandarin, one year on skill training and one year's internship at a local enterprise.

"I didn't have to pay for the studies, and also got subsidies in school and 1,500 yuan per month while interning at an enterprise," said Azigul.

This year, 2,800 other local youths graduated from 27 vocational schools in the region, with nearly half of them employed and the rest under examination, said Nurdon Yiblayin, director of human resources and social security at the prefecture.

Nurdon said that by the end of 2015, the prefecture will have sent out 20,000 graduates from junior and high schools to vocational schools, and the government will fund tuition, accommodations, board and traffic fees totaling 7,300 yuan for each student.

Renagul Memet, 23, has worked at the factory for four years and is now is preparing for her wedding in August.

"He is my workmate," the young woman said with a smile. "We can work together and have a stable income."

Renagul, who trained for eight months in 2011 in Zhejiang province, earns over 4,000 yuan on average every month, and sometimes as much as 6,300 yuan.

The company sends workers to learn key technologies at its headquarters in Zhejiang province and some training is offered in other branch factories in the region, Li said.

Huafu has established a training academy next to the factory. Every worker is trained before being assigned a job.

The government subsidizes social security insurance, training fees and skill appraisal fees if the company hires local labor, Nurdon said. "The trained workers quickly adapt to the work environment and will not easily give up the job."

Now, 22 textile-related companies operate in the industrial park. More than 60 percent of China's commercial cotton is grown in Xinjiang, and Aksu is one of the major cultivation areas.

The central government hopes that attracting more labor-intensive textile plants to Xinjiang will increase employment opportunities for local residents. A plan has been drafted to expand the industry and raise its employment capacity to 1 million people by 2020 from the current 200,000.

gaobo@chinadaily.com.cn