From October 7 to 9 2019, on the occasion of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of People’s Republic of China, Prof. Wang Wen, the Executive Dean of Chongyang Institute for Finance Studies, Renmin University of China(RDCY) was Invited by the Party Committee of Kizilsu Kirgiz (Kezhou) Xinjiang to give lectures on "Belt and Road Initiative"(BRI). Kezhou is the westernmost prefecture-level administrative region of China. Prof. Wang Wen later conducted a series of research on Xinjiang local governance, border economic development, Party construction, poverty alleviation and other issues in Atush and Akto in Kezhou. The research team of RDCY also visited graduates of Renmin University who served as township cadres in Kezhou. Then they went to the border protection station of China and Tajikistan which stands 4300 meters above sea level and gave warm regards on many hard-working border guards.

On October 7 morning, the 20th session of “Kezhou and Jiangsu” lecture was held in the state Party school. Prof. Wang Wen gave a lecture on The Progress And Prospects of the Sixth Anniversary of BRI for more than 300 local cadres. Four-terms leaders of Kezhou, leaders of different government departments of Kezhou and new recruited graduates took part in the lecture.

During the lecture, Prof. Wang Wen shared his own experiences and perception of research after hundreds of countries visit. He interspersed with many fresh examples, and introduced the development and main achievements of BRI in the past six years. He as well related the development trends and challenges of BRI in the future. The audience gave a warm response and continuous applause to the lecture. Undoubtedly, the report made Kezhou people have a further deeper understanding about Kezhou’s importance in BRI international cooperation.

In the afternoon of October 7, the research team set off for Baren Village, Ba Ren Township, Akto County. Ba Ren Village is a key area for maintaining stability and poverty alleviation in Xinjiang. The local officials gave a detailed introduction to the development of Ba Ren Village, especially the positive progress made in the implementation of Network- Format local management in recent years. It solved the problem of employments and the income increase for poor households by arranging employments and profit sharing models. At present, twenty-eight projects have been implemented, providing more than 300 jobs opportunities. 263 poor households in the village have achieved poverty alleviation during one year. The research team also visited many Uighur villagers. Every household in the village is equipped with electric water heaters, and also different electrical appliances.

In the morning of October 8, the research team went to Bulunkou Township, Akto County.  Blumkou Township is bordered by the Republic of Tajikistan. The border line is 84 kilometers long and there are 8 border mountain passes. The tourism resources are abundant, however, the natural conditions are hard and the geographical environment is complicated. The  Township Committee stands 3,300 meters above the sea level. Party Members and cadres have carried forward work spirit of "bone harder than stone, courage more than oxygen, fighting spirit higher than altitude, quality stronger than steel". They vigorously lead villagers develop tourism economy. They helped 335 households with 1501 people increase their incomes and got rid of poverty in the short-term, through mountaineering camel service, horse riding, Kirgiz catering, and folk tourism cooperatives. From January to September 2019, the total tourism income was 6.33 million yuan, in the main while more than 500,000 tourists came there. Compared with 2018, the total tourism revenue increased by 81%, and tourist arrivals increased by 58%.

Subsequently, the research team drove several hours to the border of China and Tajikistan in Blumkou Township, and communicated with 30 frontline guards at several border stations at 4200-4400 meters altitude. According to the introduction of Township Party Committee, in the work of selecting the frontline guards, they studied on how to achieve the integration of stability and poverty alleviation. They prioritized the candidates who match conditions of border guards and then join in the guards team. In addition, they can help poor people get rid of poverty and get rich. Beside the border, RDCY research team and the border guards held the national flag of China and inspected the border security of our motherland together.

Liu Dian, the assistant researcher of RDCY also participated in this trip.