URUMQI -- China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hired 44,500 pre-school bilingual teachers in 2017, speaking both Uygur and Mandarin.

It brings the total number of pre-school bilingual teachers across the region to 70,000.

In 2017, Xinjiang took measures to tackle a shortage of bilingual teachers especially in Kashgar, Hotan, Aksu and the Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu.

It plans to open or expand 4,387 kindergartens this year to serve as bilingual kindergartens in rural areas, including 3,223 in southern areas, in order to extend free three-year bilingual preschool education to the entire region.

There are currently nearly 1.13 million children receiving pre-school education in Xinjiang's rural areas.