Training

While some young people in Xinjiang such as Mehmut are heading east to learn more about e-commerce, others are moving in the opposite direction, bringing knowledge and experience with them.

After spending several years working as a business consultant at Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhou Hu, who was born and raised in Aksu, chose to return home and take up the post of director of the Aksu E-commerce Training Center at the Alibaba Business School in the industrial park.

As part of his job, Zhou gives lectures on the "ABC" of running an online business: how to start and equip an online store, attract consumers, package and deliver commodities, and deal with customer complaints.

"We believe that if you want to become an online store owner, first, you have to be a very good online consumer," said the 37-year-old, who is also secretary-general of the Aksu E-commerce Association.

"As many people in Aksu, particularly some less-educated members of the Uygur ethnic group, don't know how to use a computer, our training often has to start from the absolute basics by explaining and showing them what online shopping is and how to buy goods online."

To better meet the demands of local people, Zhou and his colleagues have compiled textbooks in both Mandarin and the Uygur language.