delegations, while ensuring that any outcome

[zhangsan520]

by Xinhua writers Cheng Lu Nike Presto Sale , Chen Ji and Li Xiaoling


URUMQI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Internet can be dangerous when used to spread religious extremism, but it can also be a positive tool in connecting Muslims in isolated far-west China to the world.


Toti Mamut, a 73-year-old Uygur farmer, has grown apricot trees and kept sheep his whole life in Kashgar of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.


He has never left his hometown, but he is now known far and wide as a brand ambassador after bags of local specialties bearing his smiling face have been sold online and delivered to cities from Beijing to New York.


This was made possible by e-commerce firm Vizdan Trading Co. Nike Presto Shoes , Ltd., which sold 150 tonnes of Xinjiang agricultural goods such as walnuts, dried apricot slices and jujubes to online buyers last year.


Representatives of the company, founded by several young people from different ethnic groups in March 2012, gathered with other e-commerce firms at a conference last week in Xinjiang to discuss how to make Uygur farmers' lives easier through the Internet.


With China's online population reaching 649 million by the end of 2014 and the state placing support behind e-commerce with its "Internet Plus" action plan, companies like Vizdan are riding the crest of a digital wave. Co-founder Liu Jingwen hopes more e-commerce firms can focus on Xinjiang and farmers there.


ONLINE BAZAAR


Toti Mamut's 50 apricot trees can produce 500 kg of fruit every year.


Before the Internet came into his life Nike Presto Mid Utility , he had to haul his dried apricots more than 16 km by donkey-pulled cart to sell them to wholesalers at a low price, or just watch them rot on the ground.


Things changed at the end of 2012 when Vizdan co-founder Mahmut Tursun, nicknamed Amu, told him that dried apricots could be sold on something called the Internet.


"Our fellow villagers asked what the Internet was. The young man said it's an online bazaar," Toti Mamut recalls.


Amu and his colleagues purchase quality farm products from contracted farmers at a price 10 percent higher than the market average, give dividends to them Nike Presto Mid , and provide training on agricultural skills.


They also publish farmers' biographies on online stores so consumers can understand where the product comes from and the story of its producers.


Muhtar Abdudical, the first farmer to partner with Vizdan, has 130 black walnut trees in Xinjiang's Huangdi Town.


With the help of the Internet, he earned 26,000 yuan (around 4,250 U.S. dollars) selling walnuts last year Nike Presto Essential , nearly four times what he made in 2011.


Business is so good that Muhtar Abdudical's son, a migrant worker, is considering moving back home.


EASING ISOLATION


In order to improve mutual understanding between Xinjiang farmers and city dwellers elsewhere in China, Vizdan usually includes a blank postcard with the farmer's picture on it in the packages it mails to buyers. It encourages the customers to write back to the farmer with feedback.


Amu, who translates the messages for their Uygur recipients, tells Xinhua that Vizdan aims to have partnerships with 2 Nike Presto Mens ,700 farming families by the end of the year.


Though it's far from enough -- Xinjiang has tens of millions of farmers who need more opportunities to get online -- its obvious that such businesses have real potential, economically and socially.


Liu Jingwen said that he wants people to think about more than terrorism when they think of Xinjiang. "The taste of the fruit lets me know a different Xinjiang" reads one of the customer postcards sent to Toti Mamut.


GENEVA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- The UN Syria envoy confirmed Thursday that the next round of Syria peace talks is slated to kick off on May 16, adding that negotiations between warring factions will be both short and business-like.


"As you all know, we are preparing the new intra-Syria round of talks next week... and we are aiming (at finishing) as a target towards (May) the 19th," Staffan de Mistrua told press.


"These (talks) will be rather business-like Nike Presto , rather short compared to other meetings," he added.


The diplomat explained that the timing and brevity of upcoming negotiations were linked to the need to keep the momentum going while taking into heed the start of Ramadan on May 26.


UN-mediated talks will also follow parallel meetings in the Kazak capital of Astana earlier this month which saw regional stakeholders pledge to create "de-escalation zones" in the war-torn country.


"When we talk about the four de-escalation areas, these have the potential of affecting, hopefully positively from a humanitarian point of view, at least 2.6 million people," de Mistura said.


"So we are talking anyway of a major impact Nike Air Presto Sale , if as we hope that would work," he added.


The next round of intra-Syrian peace talks will the third between warring factions since the start of the year.


While some progress on the humanitarian front has been achieved, opposing delegations remain at odds as to what a future, peaceful Syria, might look like.


De Mistura's job is to help bridge deep-seated gaps between rival delegations, while ensuring that any outcome is in line with UN Security Council resolutions.


While progress on the political track has been sparse Nike Air Presto Shoes , the UN stands by its commitment to pursue peace through political negotiations to prevent further bloodshed in a country where as many as 400,000 people have died and millions more have been forced to flee their homes.


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