BEIJING - Centers have been set up to train and employ workers in threatened ethnic crafts in two Chinese regions.

A collaborative project between the Ministry of Culture (MOC) and a number of private partners with an interest in arts and crafts, the centers are in Hami, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hunan Province.

They will help ensure traditional crafts survive by refining materials and designs and marketing the products, the MOC said.

In Hami, the Artron Art Group and Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design will focus on local embroidery.

The project in Tujia-Miao, known for its brocade, will be led by a Beijing-based clothing company.