"The Belt and Road" helps Xinjiang to "connect the river to the sea" pattern | Xinjiang | connect the river to the sea
Xinjiang is an important node of the ancient Silk Road. For thousands of years, envoys have been looking at each other on the road, and business travel has never ceased along the way. In the new era, Xinjiang is striving to build a highland for inland opening and border opening, taking advantage of the high-quality construction of the "the Belt and Road", from the border hinterland to the "river and sea".
As one of the provinces with the largest number of land ports and the longest border in China, Xinjiang has 20 first-class national ports. At 3am, the lights in the Urumqi International Land Port area were brightly lit, and one China Europe freight train completed its installation here. In the northwest direction of Urumqi, about 700 kilometers away, facing the dawn, the train slowly enters and exits the country.
"Chang'an", "Yixin Europe", "Yuxin Europe"... Mercedes Benz's China Europe Express passes through Khorgos, Alataw Pass and other nodes to drive across Eurasia. The reporter learned from Khorgos Customs that as of July 11, the number of trains passing through Khorgos railway port this year has exceeded 4000. There are a total of 77 train routes that can reach 18 countries and 45 cities overseas. The steel camel caravan operates day and night, becoming a major artery in the global industrial chain.
At the Alashankou Port in Xinjiang, several trucks are entering and exiting the country. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Lei
Khorgos Highway Port is also in a high operating state. The reporter observed here that merchants and tourists travel frequently, and cars from Shanghai, Shandong, Anhui, Henan and other places orderly and quickly clear customs, continuously sending to countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, and Poland.
According to the statistics of Khorgos Entry Exit Frontier Inspection Station, as of July 21, 50000 commercial vehicles have been exported through Khorgos Highway Port this year, up 106% year on year.
"How to promote high-quality development, especially how to promote a high level of opening up, is an important issue we are pondering every day." Hao Jianmin, secretary of the Khorgos Municipal Party Committee, told reporters that Khorgos is focusing on chain investment, continuing to create a good business environment, and better transforming its regional advantages into development momentum.
Turning to southern Xinjiang, the Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Zone is bustling with traffic and bustling scenes in the scorching summer. "In today's comprehensive bonded zone, projects are competing to settle in, enterprises are accelerating production, and trucks are constantly coming in. With more cars, more people, and more popularity..." Kashgar Customs officer Guliferre Yusufu sighed. In just a few years, Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Zone has undergone remarkable changes, becoming an important platform for opening up to the outside world and a "main engine" supporting the growth of foreign trade in Kashgar and even southern Xinjiang.
Outdoor view of Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Xinjiang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Huhu
Established in Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Zone, Zhongshun E-commerce Co., Ltd. specializes in foreign trade business. "We gather goods from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta here and then send them to Central Asia, Europe, and other places. Currently, we process 120000 e-commerce orders every day," said General Manager Zhang Qi. In 2022, the park completed cross-border e-commerce worth 1.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 291%.
Since last year, Xinjiang has been granted three new cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, two market procurement trade pilot zones, one national import trade promotion innovation demonstration zone, one used car business export region, and one domestic and foreign trade integration pilot zone. The aggregation and integration of various open platforms provide broader and more solid support for building a highland of westward openness.
At the end of March this year, a friendly exchange delegation from Xinjiang visited Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, during which 34 cooperation projects were signed and 8 sister city relationships were established.
After signing with Xinjiang TBEA, Sudan Ilyasov, Chairman of Kazakhstan AE Group, excitedly said, "Through cooperation with Xinjiang TBEA, we can not only consolidate the Kazakhstan market, but also radiate to the Russian and Belarusian markets."
At present, Xinjiang has signed 21 cooperation agreements with 25 countries and international organizations, signed 45 pairs of international friendly cities, and invested abroad in more than 60 countries and regions. It has built 4 overseas economic and trade cooperation parks, and the open "circle of friends" is becoming larger and larger.
A Kazakhstani tourist is shopping at the Silk Road Cultural Commodity City in Bachtu, Tacheng, Xinjiang. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Lei
The latest statistical data from Urumqi Customs shows that in the first half of this year, the total import and export value of Xinjiang's foreign trade was 149.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65.2%, which is 63.1 percentage points higher than the overall national growth rate and continues to maintain a strong trend. Among them, Xinjiang's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 138.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 68.2%, and the construction of the Asia Europe golden channel continued to improve quality and speed.
Xing Tao, Director of the Department of Commerce of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that in the future, Xinjiang will give better play to its regional advantages, actively serve and integrate into the new development pattern, further increase economic and trade cooperation with countries along the "the Belt and Road", and strive to create a highland for inland opening and border opening.
