Xi Jinping Issues New East-West Cooperation Instructions

Chinese President Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on normalizing east-west cooperation, marking a significant policy milestone as China transitions from a five-year post-poverty alleviation transition period into a new phase of “normalized assistance.” The instructions were delivered at the National East-West Cooperation Work Conference held June 17 in Yinchuan, Ningxia, and coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Fujian-Ningxia (Minning) collaboration model.

A New Phase for Regional Cooperation

According to Xinhua News Agency, Xi emphasized that 2026 is the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period and the first year of implementing normalized assistance. He called for summarizing and applying the beneficial experiences of the Fujian-Ningxia collaboration, further improving cooperation mechanisms, optimizing cooperation methods, and expanding cooperation areas.

“East-west cooperation over the past 30 years has played a significant role in supporting poverty alleviation and promoting coordinated regional development, demonstrating the political advantages of the CPC and the superiority of China’s socialist system,” Xi stated in his instructions.

The conference was attended by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, who delivered a speech emphasizing that Xi’s instructions provide “fundamental guidance for normalizing east-west cooperation.” Officials from Ningxia, Fujian, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Sichuan, and Gansu also presented their experiences.

The Minning Model: A 30-Year Success Story

The Fujian-Ningxia collaboration, often referred to as the Minning model, stands as the flagship example of China’s east-west cooperation policy. Launched in 1996, this partnership between China’s developed eastern coast and its less-developed western interior has transformed lives across the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

A comprehensive feature article by Xinhua and CCTV chronicles Xi Jinping’s personal involvement with the program since his tenure as Fujian’s deputy party secretary in 1997, when he first visited Xihaigu — a region the United Nations once deemed “unfit for human habitation.” Xi was deeply struck by the poverty he witnessed, remarking, “It has been many years since reform and opening up, yet we still have places this poor. I was deeply shocked.”

Under Xi’s direction, what began as a modest “Minning Village” has grown into Minning Town, a modern ecological migration demonstration town of over 60,000 residents. Ningxia’s per capita GDP has surged from 3,926 yuan in 1996 to 77,981 yuan in 2025 — a nearly 19-fold increase. Farmers’ per capita income rose from approximately 1,400 yuan to over 20,000 yuan during the same period.

Tangible Results Across Multiple Fronts

At a State Council Information Office press conference held on June 11, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Maierdan Mugaiti detailed the program’s achievements. Over the five-year transition period, eastern provinces invested more than 1,150 billion yuan in financial assistance to western regions. Nearly 800 industrial parks were jointly built, with enterprises guided to invest over 7,500 billion yuan. The program helped over 5 million rural laborers find employment, including more than 3 million from households that had previously been lifted out of poverty.

Agricultural cooperation has also flourished, with nearly 5,700 billion yuan worth of agricultural products purchased or facilitated for sale. A total of 16,000 cadres were exchanged between eastern and western regions, while over 6,500 schools and hospitals established pairing relationships. More than 1,500 villages were jointly developed as livable, workable, and beautiful communities.

The Fujian-Ningxia Partnership in Detail

According to a detailed report by China Economic Net, Fujian has dispatched 254 cadres to Ningxia over 30 years, while Ningxia sent 381 cadres to Fujian. Thirty-nine Fujian counties paired with nine Ningxia counties, with total Fujian assistance funds reaching 7.68 billion yuan across more than 4,000 projects.

The economic integration runs deep: over 1,600 Fujian enterprises have invested in Ningxia, with nearly 6,000 Fujian-invested enterprises now operating in the region. A total of 330,000 person-trips of labor have been transferred to Fujian, with nearly 60,000 workers maintaining stable employment there. More than 7,000 Fujian teachers, doctors, and technical personnel have provided group-based assistance.

In 2025 alone, 650 million yuan in Minning funds supported 129 projects. Twelve Minning industrial parks now host 366 enterprises employing 11,400 workers, generating 9.4 billion yuan in output. Consumer assistance reached 76.92 billion yuan in 2025, up 8.6% year-on-year, supported by 155 consumer assistance stores established in Fujian.

Analysis: From Poverty Alleviation to Institutionalized Partnership

The transition to “normalized assistance” marks a fundamental shift in China’s approach to regional development. During the 1996–2020 period, east-west cooperation focused primarily on poverty alleviation. The 2021–2025 transition period consolidated these gains. Now, beginning in 2026, the program enters a permanent, institutionalized phase.

Vice Minister Maierdan Mugaiti confirmed at the press conference that the policy framework will maintain overall stability, with “assistance intensity unchanged,” while focusing more on “complementary advantages and common development.” This suggests a move away from charity-based assistance toward market-driven, mutually beneficial economic integration.

Key areas for future collaboration include industrial complementarity, technological learning, digital economy development, green energy cooperation, and expanded cadre and personnel exchanges. The 15th Five-Year Plan provides the strategic framework, with “new quality productive forces” — technology-driven economic development — emerging as a priority for western regions.

What to Watch For

As China enters this new phase of normalized assistance, several questions will shape the program’s evolution. How will the model adapt to different regional contexts beyond the Fujian-Ningxia partnership? What role will private sector and market forces play versus continued government direction? And how will environmental constraints, particularly water scarcity and climate change, affect western development plans?

What is clear is that Xi Jinping’s personal commitment to the program — spanning three decades from his first visit to Xihaigu in 1997 to his latest instructions in 2026 — signals that east-west cooperation will remain a cornerstone of China’s strategy for balanced regional development and the pursuit of “common prosperity.”