In a farmers' professional cooperative in Aral, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, agricultural products are sorted and packed before being transported to Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

The products employees handle are the third batch of orders received by the cooperative in more than 10 days.

The cooperative has sold 120,000 yuan ($18,461.5) worth of agricultural products including prunes, dates and walnuts to date via an online shopping festival launched by Taizhou on Aug 31. Aral has partnered with Taizhou since 2010 in an effort by the central government's east-west program for poverty relief.

In 2021, Taizhou launched two online shopping festivals to sell products from Aral. The events allowed local customers to purchase Xinjiang specialties like apples, pears, dates, walnuts and rice at prices that are much lower than the market rate.

In June, about 200 metric tons of apricots produced in Aral were put on the shelves in Taizhou.

Li Zhenjie, chief of the office in Xinjiang that was set up by Taizhou to support the region's development, said they are not only helping local farmers sell agricultural products, but also helping them to improve product quality and develop brand awareness.

Located on the 40th parallel north, Aral is widely recognized as one of the best places to grow fruit worldwide. Its climate, fertile soil along the Tarim River as well as its irrigation water from mountain snow has made fruit produced from the area taste crispier and sweeter.