Farmers harvest cotton in Changji, Xinjiang. Chen Peng / Xinhua

Cotton to garments

More than 60 percent of China's cotton crop is grown in Xinjiang. It's a major advantage for companies that process the fiber into cotton thread to be close to supplies. The automated spinning factories also benefit from electricity prices around half those in coastal provinces.

Spinning needs relatively few workers. Creating 1 million textile jobs will require a build-out of the entire industry chain, from dyeing to weaving to garment production. And that poses a far greater challenge than attracting more spinners.

Dyeing, bleaching and washing of fabric would demand substantial supplies of water in the arid region. Much of Xinjiang, including Aksu, is classified as "high risk" for water stress by the nonprofit World Resources Institute. The institute has designated Shihezi and Kuerle, two cities also targeted for major textile expansion, as "extremely high risk".

Aksu is consulting with textile companies on plans to build a 50,000-metric ton wastewater treatment facility to handle discharges from future dyeing operations, said Youngor's Xu, who has attended recent government meetings on the issue.

A similar facility is also under discussion for Shihezi, near Urumqi, but some companies are wary of proceeding with dyeing in the area.

"We are not sure whether the capacity of the facility could meet all the demand and protect the environment from damage," said Zhao Yang, general manager of three Xinjiang spinning factories owned by shirt maker Esquel in Hong Kong.

"Compared with Guangdong, where our fabric mill sites are, Xinjiang's water is very scarce," he said.

Xinjiang's location, more than 4,000 kilometers from Shanghai in the east or Guangzhou to the south, is also a hurdle for companies rushing to meet tight deadlines for overseas clients, Xu said.

Like Youngor, Esquel, maker of men's shirts for brands such as Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, has no plans for downstream operations in Xinjiang, Zhao said.