Resources catapult Ningxia to prosperity

Meanwhile, Ningxia's wine industry has also grown rapidly in the past decade.

Its first winery was constructed in 1984, and today the region has more than 200 that produce around 130 million bottles a year for an industry valued at 26.1 billion yuan.

In June last year, China set up its first comprehensive experimental zone for the development and opening up of the wine and grape industries in Ningxia, aimed at expanding the region's annual production volume to 300 million bottles and a value of 100 billion yuan by 2025.

The region is also integrating boutique tourism with the wine industry.

The Dulaan Winery Town is a key construction project in the development of the grape and wine industry, with a planned area of 220.2 hectares and a total investment of 2.5 billion yuan.

It is set to boost the integrated development of grape planting, wine brewing and wine tourism, said Zheng Zifeng, CEO of the Ningxia Dulaan Winery.

With its unique resources and geographical advantages, Ningxia has developed more quickly than any other provincial-level region in China over the past decade, with an average annual GDP growth of 7.1 percent, half a percentage point higher than the national level.