新疆生产建设兵团

choi

Settlers in Xinjiang | Circling the Wagons; In a region plagued by ethnic strife, the growth of immigrant-dominated settlements is adding to the tension. Economist, May 25, 2013.
http://www.economist.com/news/ch ... -settlements-adding

Quote:

"The paramilitary role of the corps is just the latest in a series of attempts to settle Xinjiang dating back to the region’s conquest by China’s Qing dynasty emperors in the 18th century (many of the settlers then were Manchu soldiers). The bingtuan itself was founded in 1954, consisting mainly of demobilised Han soldiers. They were ordered to turn desert areas into farmland while keeping their guns to fend off potential incursions by the Soviet Union. In 1953 Han Chinese formed less than 10% of Xinjiang’s population [compared to just over 40% of the 22m inhabitants nowadays]


"In 1975, a year before he died, Mao Zedong abolished the corps * * * In 1981 Deng Xiaoping re-established it

Note:
(a) "the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Agricultural Division is part of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. This state-run organization [is] usually referred to as the bingtuan (Chinese for a military corps)"
新疆生产建设兵团 (总部驻乌鲁木齐市; 简称“兵团”) 农2师 131团
(b) "It [兵团] produces nearly one-sixth of Xinjiang’s GDP, including 40% of its cotton (one of the region’s main cash crops). The corps also prides itself on being one of the world’s biggest makers of tomato ketchup. Its exports made up more than 17% of global trade in ketchup in 2009, according to Sun Yanping, a Xinjiang-based economist."

I can not find the Chinese name of SUN Yanping.  
(c) "Shihezi, a city in northern Xinjiang controlled by the corps"

新疆维吾尔自治区 石河子市
(d) Xinjiang Tianye Group Co, Ltd  新疆天业（集团）有限公司 (组建于1996年，是新疆生产建设兵团农八师的大型国有企业)
(e) "In 2010, 38th Regiment was launched.  * * * The bingtuan has spent hundreds of millions of dollars bringing water from the Molcha River 莫勒切河 80km away."