Trucks carrying 1,000 sheep native to Huzhou arrived in Keping county, Aksu prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on May 11.

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province has since 2010 been paired with Keping under the east-west cooperation program for poverty relief that was launched by the central government.

Last year, the city transported 2,000 sheep to the county. These sheep have since given birth to more than 1,800 lambs.

Keping is suitable for sheep raising, according to Wu Hao, an official from Huzhou responsible for the poverty alleviation work in Xinjiang, due to the nature of its water and grass.

He noted that sheep from Huzhou are very fertile and have low breeding costs.

To help Keping better manage the breeding of sheep, professionals from Huzhou have been sent to guide local residents. Residents from the county have also been invited to undergo professional training in Huzhou.

A sheep industrial park that spans more than 7,500 mu (500 hectares)  is currently under construction in Keping. After its completion, the park will have a stock capacity of more than 400,000 ewes, which are capable of producing over 600,000 lambs annually.

This park is expected to create more than 500 jobs and offer more than 1,000 seasonal job vacancies.

Since 2018, more than 80,000 sheep native to Huzhou have been sold to places such as Gansu, Anhui, and Fujian provinces, as well as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions as part of poverty relief efforts.