As the poorest and most arid area in China, Ningxia is a good benchmark for measuring the prospects of success of China’s "Grand Strategy for Developing the Western Regions.” This strategy envisions investment in the relatively backward western areas of the country by companies which have gained profits and expertise in the country’s advanced coastal provinces.

The shape of things to come in China’s west is represented by the efforts of the Guangxia Industry Co. Ltd. Guangxia started out making floppy disks in Shenzhen, China’s first economic development zone. It was listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange back in 1994. Seeking new areas of investment, Guangxia moved into the cultivation of cash crops in desert areas. It chose Ningxia, probably because the company’s founder, Chen Chuan, was born there. At a total cost of 650 million RMB (about US$80 million) Guangxia has reclaimed 5,400 acres of desert, which at one time was the source of the blanket of dust which used to cover Yinchuan, the region's capital, 12 km away. Thirteen million cu m of sand were removed, and more than two million trees were planted. Medicinal plants, including ephedra and lycium chinensis are growing on 1,500 acres. These herbs are making handsome profits for the company within China, but the real money spinner, both at home and abroad, is expected to be the wine the company makes from its 2,640 acres of vineyards (among the blizzard of statistics manager Yu Wanming has at his fingertips is the fact that the steel wire supporting the grape trellises could circle the earth four times). The reclaimed sandy soil and the lengthy sunshine make this part of Ningxia ideal for grape growing. Israeli experience was drawn on for the planting of the vineyard, and French and Italian technology for the wine making plant. Water for irrigation is pumped from the nearby Yellow River.

Such endeavors, which create wealth and employment while improving the environment, are core parts of the Chinese government’s blueprint for developing the west. President Jiang Zemin and other government leaders have personally visited Guangxia. The technique of air-seeding has enabled the region to plant trees on a massive scale. A plan has been completed to construct shelter belts consisting of 30 million trees, from the Helan Mountains in the west of the region to the area of Mount Liupanshan in the south. Forest farms have been set up, suiting different types of trees to the various land conditions. The Shuigou Forest Farm in Guyuan County plants both coniferous and broadleaf trees in mixed forests. One advantage of this is that it limits the impact of tree pests and diseases in a particular area. The Baijitan Forest Farm, east of Linwu City, has planted a forest shelterbelt to stem the march of the Maowursu Desert 42 km long from east to west and 10 km wide. In cooperation with Japanese experts, it has constructed the "`China-Japan Friendship Forest.”

The reversal of soil erosion, however, has involved a tough decision: Farmers and herders have to be persuaded to abandon their traditional ways of life, and become forest tenders. Sheep and other grazing animals are destroying Ningxia’s thin soil at an alarming rate. Farmers are paid to plant and look after trees, but there has been resistance to change, partly because Ningxia has been doing a lucrative business in sales of halal mutton to the Moslem world.

This connection has come about because Ningxia is the home of the Hui people, who are Moslems and make up about one third of the region’s 5.3 million people. They are the descendants of various tribes from Central Asia, as well as of Arabs and Persians, who traveled along the Silk Road in ancient times and inter-married with the Han Chinese. The religion is thriving in Ningxia, and the number of Moslem clergy is growing at an annual rate of three percent a year, according to Zhang Zhongxiao, deputy director of the region’s Bureau of Religious Affairs. Ningxia now has more than 5,000 imams, and some 150 people graduate from religious training schools annually. In addition, the number of mosques has increased from 1,800 in the 1980s to 3,000 currently. Many Huis make the pilgrimage to Mecca, with assistance from the central government. Closer ties with the Moslem world have resulted in assistance programs in cooperation with the Bank of Kuwait and the Saudi Arabian government.

Tourism is also being encouraged as part of the western development strategy, and Ningxia is not lagging behind in this regard. Yinchuan City, the regional capital, was also the capital of the mysterious kingdom of Western Xia (1038-1227). There are museums devoted to Western Xia both in Yinchuan itself and at the tumuli of the Western Xia kings, 35 km west of Yinchuan. Some 56 km north of Yinchuan is the Sand Lake Scenic Spot. The lake is a sanctuary for rare birds and water creatures, and on its north side is a desert, where camel and dune buggy rides, as well as various kinds of other recreation are available. Sand Lake receives 500,000 visitors a year, including President Jiang Zemin and other Party and government leaders. A unique attraction is the China West Film Studio. The prize-winning film Red Sorghum was partly shot here, among the locations for all kinds of historical Chinese settings. In the south of the region are the Xumishan grottoes, with 350 statues of Buddhist saints and a Tang Dynasty statue of Buddha 20.6 m high. The city of Guyuan has a fine museum, and nearby is Mount Liupan, which was the last obstacle faced by the Red Army on its celebrated Long March in 1935. Mao Zedong wrote a famous poem about the conquest of the mountain.

(CIIC 10/09/2000)