‘Pairing assistance’ makes headway in Xinjiang

URUMQI: Zurdun, a woman in her 30s in far western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was lucky to survive with a baby boy thanks to a doctor from the eastern city of Wenzhou.

Waiting to give birth, Zurdun began suffering from headaches and blurred vision on the night of Sept 7. She later fell into unconsciousness after falling from her bed.

Local doctors in Baicheng county recommended to her family that Zurdun be sent to an Aksu prefecture hospital hundreds of kilometres away for treatment as the patient’s condition was too difficult for them to deal with.

Chen Yumei, the obstetrics and gynecology department chief of Wenzhou Municipal People’s Hospital in east Zhejiang province, arrived in Baicheng that night to start her three-year tenure in the county people’s hospital.

She saved Zurdun and her baby. Zurdun is just one of the thousands of people saved by doctors from east China.

More than 4,000 officials and experts from 19 relatively-prosperous provinces and municipalities, including Chen, are contributing to the development of the poor vast western land.

In March 2010, the Chinese government initiated a “pairing assistance” programme to support Xinjiang in building new infrastructure and promoting local industry.

Xinjiang, a remote region with more than half of its population ethnic minorities, lags behind other provinces and faces challenges in capital, technology, skills, talent and management.

National support for the region is instrumental in its development and essential to its long-term peace and order, said Wang Ping, a professor of ethnic issues with Xinjiang Normal University. — Xinhua