Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture’s Corn Boom Raises Questions Over Control and Beneficiaries

Sep 5, 2022

Rewritten & Fact-Checked Summar

This year, agribusiness in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Uyghur region, officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also referred to by some as East Turkistan) is projected to produce a significant volume of corn as part of the region’s broader grain harvest, though independent sources do not specifically confirm a figure of one million tons produced solely in Changji Prefecture. Xinjiang as a whole is one of China’s largest grain-producing regions, with overall grain output exceeding 21 million tons in 2023 — including substantial contributions from corn — and expansion in corn cultivation and yields has been widely reported by local government sources.

Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture (also spelled Sanji Hui in Uyghur transliteration) is an administrative region in mid-north Xinjiang that includes urban and rural counties such as Changji City, Qitai County (Qutubi), and Manas County.

State reporting and regional agricultural planning documents indicate that the prefecture has sizable cultivated agricultural land and is part of Xinjiang’s broader focus on increasing grain production through high-yield seed varieties, mechanization, and technical support for farmers, aiming to raise average corn yields significantly.

According to some regional accounts, the combined corn harvest in this area is expected to increase sharply this year, with some local projections suggesting output could reach around one million metric tons from the prefecture’s cultivated fields.

In the broader context of Xinjiang agricultural exports, human rights organizations have documented concerns about products from the region entering global markets. For example, the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) has published research noting that certain dried fruit products sourced from Xinjiang have appeared on shelves in American grocery stores and may be linked to forced labor conditions — though that investigation focused on commodities like dates rather than corn. (uhrp.org)

Under U.S. law, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (effective December 23, 2021) presumes that goods produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region enter U.S. supply chains only if companies can demonstrate they are not made with forced labor. (Wikipedia)