Some 200,000 officials in Xinjiang, the western region of China that has seen a rising tide of unrest, will be sent to live in rural areas over the next three years, the Global Times said. So far, the paper reports, more than 70,000 have already arrived.

So many officials are on rural sabbatical that those left behind have complained of the extra workload, the paper said.

The program is aimed at winning the hearts and minds of local people, particularly Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic group that has a fraught relationship with Chinese authorities. Officials have been helping villagers with tasks such as farm work, clearing land and planting trees.