A total of 2,000 sheep native to Huzhou were transported to Keping county, Aksu prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in May last year. 

In the past 19 days of this month, the sheep have given birth to more than 860 lambs.

According to Wu Hao, an official from Huzhou responsible for the poverty alleviation work in Xinjiang, the sheep from Huzhou has helped increase the incomes of local farmers due to their high fertility and low breeding cost.

He expects the number of Huzhou sheep in Keping to reach 5,500 when all the ewes have given birth.

In addition to sheep donation, Huzhou has sent professionals to guide local residents to raise the animal.

The city has since 2010 been paired with Keping under the East-West program for poverty relief that was launched by the central government.

 To date, the city has allocated a total of 800 million yuan ($123.07 million) to support Keping and sent 189 cadres and professionals to help the county develop sectors such as medical care, education and agriculture.