A total of 430 sheep native to Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province are loaded onto trucks bound for Mabian Yi autonomous county, Sichuan province on May 10. [Photo/hz66.com] 

A total of 430 sheep native to Huzhou were loaded onto trucks bound for Mabian Yi autonomous county, Sichuan province on May 10.

The sheep were donated by Tianneng Holding Group Co Ltd, which is based in Huzhou's Changxing county. Tianneng is a leading motive battery solution provider in China's new energy market. 

In addition to the sheep donation, professionals were also sent to guide local residents to raise the animals.

Changxing has a long history of raising sheep. The sheep stock in the county now stands at 220,000. It is home to 15 farms that can raise more than 1,000 sheep, among which four have a stock capacity of over 10,000 sheep.

Raising sheep has become a significant approach for Huzhou to help underdeveloped places under the east-west cooperation program for poverty relief that was launched by the central government.

Since 2018, more than 80,000 sheep native to Huzhou have been sold to places, including Gansu, Anhui, and Fujian provinces, as well as Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The sheep from Huzhou, which have high fertility and low breeding costs, have helped increase the incomes of local farmers, according to Wu Hao, an official from Huzhou responsible for the poverty alleviation work in Xinjiang.