Industrial park in Xinjiang's Yining county fruit of collaboration between sister cities

She said that she has spent 8.5 million yuan so far, with a total planned investment of 20 million yuan.

Starting operations last year, the factory employs 110 people, all of them local residents, 86 of whom belong to different ethnic groups, she added.

Despite living alone in Yining, Chen said that she doesn't feel lonely "as my employees in Xinjiang treat me like a family member".