Due to violent terrorist attacks, problems in Xinjiang have become the focus of both domestic and foreign opinion.

Domestic research institutes and experts have provided suggestions to the local government. But after I spent months in southern Xinjiang, I found that in order to boost development in Xinjiang, we should start from the deep-rooted problems and think of innovative and pragmatic means.

In a bid to improve governance and boost development of Xinjiang, we should deeply understand the basic needs in southern Xinjiang. Some development proposals raised by a number of experts and prominent economists are reasonable, but when it comes to southern Xinjiang, the actual situation at the grass-roots level must be taken into consideration.

Officials at the county and township level there admit that although the ideas of some experts sound perfect, they would be difficult to implement.

The social and production structure of southern Xinjiang differs greatly from that in the coastal areas and even northern Xinjiang.

The coastal areas have entered a post-industrialization and information era, and northern Xinjiang is heading toward heavy-industrialization. However, southern Xinjiang is still heavily dependent on agriculture. It would not be practical to simply copy the development model of the coastal areas and promote manufacturing industries in this region.

In my field research in southern Xinjiang, I discovered that many villages adopted a practical way to connect ordinary people with the Party's "mass-line" campaign.

For example, some extreme doctrines of Islamism do not allow the singing and dancing gatherings of the Uyghurs. In Langan town, the Party committee and the government built cultural squares in each village and encouraged villagers to take part in entertainment activities.

To carry out work at the grass-roots level of southern Xinjiang, we should rely on Party officials at the front line. With more terrorist attacks emerging, the local government has set up a watch post in each village.

But due to a lack of financing, villagers do not want to be on duty every day. The Party authorities at the township level then bought billiard tables for every village, so that young people will not feel bored when on duty.

In Langan town, every official has a notebook which records the important events of families that they hold responsibility for. These officials attend ceremonies of local families like wedding and funeral, so that villagers feel they are close to officials. In southern Xinjiang which still relies on agriculture, traditional "mass-line" work continues to play a critical role.

The author is vice secretary-general of Chongqing Financial Association. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn