Xinjiang county's cotton fields fully mechanized

Earlier in September, in the vast cotton fields of Jinghe county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, no workers were seen bent under the sun. Instead, drones had just finished spraying defoliants to hasten boll opening and leaf fall.

In about 10 days, harvesting machines will roll in, completing a cotton production cycle that is now fully mechanized.

Jinghe, located in the Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture, is a major producer of early-maturing cotton in northern Xinjiang. In 2024, the county's demonstration fields produced 11 metric tons of cotton per hectare, setting a national record.