China will invest more than a billion dollars to boost the textile industry in the country's largest cotton producing region, the Xinjiang Uyghur region, in western China. The investment will be used to attract garment manufacturers from other provinces, build infrastructure, and to subsidise existing local textile companies by lowering taxes and subsidising logistics costs.

Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital, has been earmarked for development as the regional textile and apparel trading centre, while Aksu, Shihezi and Korla have been designated as three textile industrial cities. The investment is expected to add a million jobs in Xinjiang and help the region export apparel and textile products to Europe, Central Asia, Western Asia and South Asia.

Xinjiang is one of the poorest regions in China and has been subject to recent political instability. It’s the largest of China’s regions and provinces. Xinjiang is a vast region in western China, torn by tensions between the Muslim Uighurs, who number about 10 million, over 40 per cent of Xinjiang's total population and the majority Han Chinese, leading to periodic violence.

Meanwhile, large textile industrial parks will be located in seven cities in the counties if Hami city, Bachu county, Alar city, Xayar county, Manas county, Kuytun city and Khorgas town.