A traditional pastoral village in the Bayanbulak Scenic Area of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has transformed itself by blending age-old grazing practices with tourism, helping local herdsmen diversify their income.
This season, the Bayanbulak Grassland is lush and vibrant. Bayin Alideer, who runs a locally styled homestay, comes from a family that has relied on animal husbandry for generations. Optimistic about the growth of tourism, he sold his yaks and switched to running the homestay. Recently, as more tourists have visited the area, his business has been flourishing.
"I plan to work in tourism during the summer and tend sheep in the winter. The number of tourists increases every day," Alideer said.
Another herdsman from the same village, Haerzike, has also seized the opportunity brought by the cultural tourism boom. He has entrusted more than 200 sheep and over 40 horses to fellow villagers for grazing, while he himself joined the scenic area's horseback riding tour team — transforming from a traditional herdsman into a tourism service provider.
"In the past, we relied purely on grazing for survival. Our main source of income came from raising cattle and sheep. Now, every household is benefiting from tourism. From mid-May to October, we can earn a net income of around 50,000 to 60,000 yuan (around 7,380 to 8860 US dollars) a year," said Haerzike.
Integrating pastoral life with tourism boosts Xinjiang herders' incomes
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Wednesday announced a pilot program to allow offshore RMB forex trading in the country's Shanghai Free Trade Zone, a step further opening up China's financial market.
The PBOC, China's central bank, rolled out the program along with a series of other financial reform and opening-up measures at the annual Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, an important platform for China's financial authorities to release policy tools and international dialog on the country's financial market.
In addition to the pilot program, the PBOC will also work to improve the short-term interest rate regulation mechanism, create a repurchase tool for overseas central banks, aiming to better facilitate the high-quality economic development of China's financial market.
Other authorities also unveiled their new policy tools at the forum.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration will focus on tackling and preventing risks, handling risks of small and medium-sized financial institutions in an effective and orderly manner, and playing a supportive and cooperative role in resolving risks related to real estate and local government debts. The administration will also step up efforts to eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, and ensure full coverage with no exceptions.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission will expand the scope of the fifth set of criteria for the STAR Market to cover the field of artificial intelligence, orderly promote the deepening of the reform of the ChiNext board, deepen the reform of re-financing, launch the pilot programs for active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs), and accelerate the research and promotion of the pilot program for RMB foreign exchange futures.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange will comprehensively reform the cross-border policies for foreign direct investment, further simplify the foreign exchange management of direct foreign investment and foreign debts, and issue a new batch of investment quotas for qualified domestic institutions to better promote the facilitation of cross-border financing and investment.
China's central bank rolls out pilot program for offshore RMB forex trading
