In golden September, Aksu apples welcome their harvest season. On September 11, at the apple demonstration garden of Aksu Region Fengqing Garden Fruit Professional Cooperative located in the Hongqipo area of Aksu City, harvesting work proceeded in an orderly manner.
The unique water, soil, light, and thermal conditions of Aksu Region have nurtured high-quality sugar heart apples. What truly transformed this "sweetness" into industrial synergy was the transition from scattered operations to cluster development. Today, this "sweetness" has expanded from single-point cultivation to a complete ecological chain.
The Xinjiang Hongqipo Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Investment Development Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hongqipo Agricultural Investment Group"), established in September 2024, serves as the core operating entity of the industry. It integrates regional high-quality agricultural and livestock resources, coordinates large-scale planting bases, builds deep processing systems, and creates integrated sales networks, leading the industry from scattered operations toward standardized and clustered development.
Currently, the total planting area of bases centered on Aksu City and Hongqipo Agricultural Investment Group exceeds 320,000 acres, with Aksu City accounting for 146,900 acres, of which 85% are Red Fuji varieties.
"Group development" has substantially increased farmers' incomes. "Previously, out of 100 tons of fruit, only 40 tons could be sold as commercial fruit, and there was no profit after a year of hard work. Now, working with cooperatives, the commercial fruit rate can reach 80-90%, earning an additional 5,000 yuan per acre!" said Wang Sanmei, an internet celebrity fruit farmer, expressing the common sentiment.
The local "company + cooperative + farmer" model, through unified technical training, unified agricultural input supply, and unified sales coordination, has ended the era of farmers "going it alone." Data shows that farmers' net income per acre increased from 6,000 yuan in 2014 to 11,000 yuan in 2024. The per capita fruit income of Hongqipo farmers jumped from 8,600 yuan ten years ago to 28,000 yuan, achieving triple growth.
The extension of the industrial chain has further multiplied the "sweet" value. Since 2019, Hongqipo Agricultural Investment Group has successively built six apple processing production lines, developing 12 categories of processed products mainly using apples, walnuts, and red dates as raw materials. The processing output value reached 200 million yuan in 2024, breaking the limitation of relying solely on fresh fruit profits. Tourism departments have launched "fruit tree adoption" and "farmstay picking" projects, completing the leap from "single cultivation" to "integrated tertiary industry development."
Additionally, cold storage preservation technology extends apple shelf life from 3 months to 8 months, while freeze-drying technology produces apple chips that have become market favorites. To date, Aksu Region has 48 apple cultivation and processing enterprises and 174 cooperatives, with primary processing capacity of 720,000 tons, deep processing capacity of 180,000 tons, and preservation capacity of 1.12 million tons. The total industrial chain output value exceeds 4.54 billion yuan.
Meanwhile, leveraging the "Western Fruit Eastern Distribution" and "Ten Cities, Hundred Stores, Zhejiang-Xinjiang Gifts" projects, the region has established 48 forward warehouses and 4,019 physical stores outside Xinjiang, with 9,507 online merchants selling products to over 40 countries and regions. In September 2024, Luckin Coffee launched "Aksu Apple Latte," further helping this Xinjiang apple "cross boundaries" to win over young consumers.
Today, Aksu apples have transcended their singular "fruit" attribute to become a "pillar industry" for increasing farmers' and herders' incomes. According to plans, the total output value of the local fruit industry will exceed 20 billion yuan by 2025.
Hongqipo at the southern foot of Tianshan Mountains was once a Gobi wasteland where "wind blew stones around, and grass couldn't grow tall." Farm workers looking at the continuous gravel worried about "how to secure food supplies." Now, thousands of acres of orchards connect into vast stretches, with red Aksu sugar heart apples hanging from branches. Farmers calculate "how many more online orders can be sold this year," while tourists experience the pastoral joy of "fruit tree adoption and farmstay picking."
From "wasteland" to "oasis," from "selling fresh fruit" to "connecting the entire industrial chain," Aksu has used a single apple to write a revitalization success story of thriving industry, beautiful countryside, and prosperous farmers.