Landlocked Xinjiang develops aquaculture with local advantages, resources

Aquaculture is seeing rapid development in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, as the landlocked region has tapped its potential and optimized local resources.

At a salmon farm in Xinjiang's Nilka County, its pure, cool and oxygen-rich meltwater from the Tianshan Mountains has provided a great natural condition for the growth of salmons.

Solid net cages with a diameter of 51 meters and a depth of 25 meters are the home for salmons. They are not only large, environmentally-friendly, but also quite smart, since they can collect waste, feed salmons automatically, and have a semi-closed circulating water system.

Salmons are pumped up through tubes before being frozen to ensure they are fresh. Then they will be delivered to processing plants in the shortest time possible, where they are processed into various kinds of salmon products through automatic production lines.

In Aksu City, a whiteleg shrimp farm has been set up on a previously alkali soil.

After being introduced from south China's Hainan Province, shrimp seeds are firstly grown in desalination tanks. The salinity of water will be gradually reduced by adding more and more fresh water. With this measure, the shrimp seeds are getting used to the local environment. Later, they can be put into large pond for aquaculture.

"So far, the growth cycle of this year's shrimps is 100 days. Currently, the body length of each shrimp is 12 cm to 13 cm, weighing 16g to 18g," said Zhou Jingsen, head of a local shrimp farm.

By tapping into local water resources, Xinjiang not only helps locals increase incomes through aquaculture, but also offers more options to satisfy people's taste buds.

Landlocked Xinjiang develops aquaculture with local advantages, resources

The U.S.-led international mission formed a decade ago to combat the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq will cease to exist by September 2025, said a joint statement issued Friday by the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

There will be, however, a "transitioning to bilateral security partnerships in a manner that supports Iraqi forces and maintains pressure on ISIS," said the statement, which on the U.S. part was carried by the State Department's website, using the abbreviation of an alternative name of the Islamic State known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

According to the statement, the Iraq-U.S. Higher Military Commission which consists of representatives from both sides will formulate necessary measures to ensure the safety of coalition advisors present in Iraq during the transitional period.

The coalition's military mission in neighboring Syria, where the Islamic State also operates, "will continue until September 2026," the statement said.

The statement provided few details as to what, if any, number of U.S. troops will leave Iraq as a result of the end of the mission.

"I just want to foot stomp the fact that this is not a withdrawal. This is a transition. It's a transition from a coalition military mission to an expanded U.S.-Iraqi bilateral security relationship," a senior U.S. official told reporters during a briefing Friday.

The United States has some 2,500 military personnel in Iraq and roughly 900 troops in Syria, tasked with the mission of fighting Islamic State militants while also serving as trainers and advisors to local security forces.

U.S.-led coalition mission in Iraq drawing to end by September 2025