Xinjiang, the core area of the ancient Silk Road, has been connected to China and foreign countries for thousands of years. Entering a new era, the joint construction of the the Belt and Road has created a new situation of China's opening up, and also provided Xinjiang with unprecedented new opportunities.

In recent years, as the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Xinjiang has continuously promoted the deepening, wide-ranging, and all-round expansion of its opening-up to the outside world, achieving tangible and significant achievements. In the first half of the year, the total import and export value of Xinjiang's foreign trade reached 149.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65.2%. A new highland of inland and border opening has accelerated its formation.

New opportunities, moving from the northwest border to the forefront of opening up

More than two thousand years ago, on the ancient Silk Road, the sound of camel bells echoing in the mountains and the curls of solitary smoke flying in the desert accompanied the footsteps of friendly exchanges between China and Asian and European countries. More than 2000 years later, a series of China Europe trains are like iron and steel camels, bringing the Chinese concept of joint construction and sharing to the win-win cooperation in the Eurasian continent, and injecting new impetus into the high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road. Among them, more than half of China Europe trains transit through Alataw Pass Port and Khorgos Port in Xinjiang.

Solar cells, ketchup, PVC materials and other products have gone global, and mineral products, edible oil, wheat and other products have kept coming in... As of August, the number of China Europe trains passing through Alashankou Port and Khorgos Port in the year exceeded 4000 and 5000 respectively, which can reach more than 20 countries such as Germany and Poland.

The police on duty at the Khorgos Entry Exit Border Checkpoint are checking the export commodity vehicles.

In order to provide stable transportation capacity support for the smooth operation of China Europe freight trains, Xinjiang Railway and customs departments jointly promote new railway clearance models such as digital port railway connection, further reducing the duration of train stays at ports. At the same time, they closely coordinate and meet with relevant departments of countries along the line to continuously improve the level of precise transportation organization and transportation channel capabilities.

Ma Chunlei, Chairman of Xinjiang International Inland Port Co., Ltd., said that nowadays, the comprehensive heavy container rate of China Europe freight trains has stabilized at a high level, the balance between inbound and outbound routes has continued to strengthen, and the operation guarantee mechanism has been continuously improved to welcome customers from all over the world and disperse goods from all over the world. Xinjiang has moved from the northwest border to the forefront of opening up.

The modern infrastructure of railways, highways, and dense air routes has built Xinjiang's determination and confidence to increase its opening-up to the outside world. At present, a group of projects and facilities with large investment volume, long industrial chain, and strong radiation drive are accelerating in the north and south of Tianshan.

On the north side of the runway of Urumqi Diwobao International Airport, the largest single building in the airport renovation and expansion project, Terminal T4, is under construction. The reporter saw at the construction site that the terminal building has begun to take shape and will become a new gateway for inbound and outbound passengers in the future.

We currently have over 1000 on-the-job workers, ensuring that the terminal will be put into operation next year. Chu Shaolong, the technical director of the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau project, told reporters that as an important support for the transportation hub center of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the Urumqi Airport renovation and expansion project, after completion, can meet the annual passenger throughput of 48 million people and cargo throughput of 550000 tons.

At present, Xinjiang has opened 118 bilateral international road transportation routes, constructed 22 cross-border international optical cables, and preliminarily formed a six in one interconnected network system of roads, railways, airports, communication, pipelines, and power grids. It has added the Biedieli Port, promoted the construction of the China Central Asia Natural Gas Pipeline D line, supported the construction of the Cross Caspian Sea International Transportation Corridor, and promoted the docking and negotiation of the China Jiwu Railway project.

New achievements, open platforms gather and upgrade diversified business formats

Xinjiang not only serves as a transit station for transit stations, but also strives to build a terminal station for departure stations. The reporting team of the the Belt and Road global travel team left Khorgos Port in Xinjiang to start the international journey. In 2023, Xinjiang clearly aims to serve to build a new development pattern, develop traditional competitive advantages such as ports and border trade, and at the same time, make efforts to cultivate new business forms of foreign trade, integrated development of trade industries and other new advantages. At present, there are 7 border trade zones in Xinjiang that have been approved by the People's Government of the Autonomous Region to operate, and several trade zones, including Baktu, Alashankou and Khorgos, have been reopened. In the first half of the year, more than 1400 vehicles of bulk commodities were imported into the border trade between China and Kazakhstan, with a trade volume of 125 million yuan. The implementation of the border trade processing model has benefited enterprises and also increased the income of border residents. After confirming the identity of border residents through relevant departments, local citizens can register on their mobile mini programs and complete the daily import declaration of 8000 yuan duty-free quota with just one finger.

Recently, the People's Government of the Autonomous Region issued an implementation plan for the pilot work of procurement and trade methods in the markets of Alashankou and Urumqi, ensuring that the pilot policies are implemented and effective as soon as possible, and helping to stabilize the scale and structure of foreign trade this year. At present, two pilot markets, Alashankou Eurasian Trade City and Urumqi Border Hotel Trade Market, are intensifying merchant registration, with over 300 registered merchants and over 30 registered enterprises. The vigorous development of cross-border e-commerce has also injected new momentum into the rapid growth of Xinjiang's foreign trade. In the Kashgar Comprehensive Bonded Zone, we see factories bustling with production every day, with batches of modern enterprises taking root and vehicles carrying goods shuttling back and forth... In 2022, the park completed a cross-border e-commerce value of 1.29 billion yuan, an increase of 291% year-on-year.

Zhongshun E-commerce Co., Ltd. specializes in foreign trade business. We gather our goods from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta to Kashgar, and then ship them to Central Asia, Europe, and other places. Currently, we process 120000 e-commerce orders every day. Dong Youhua, secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Kashgar Development and Reform Commission, said that the market demand of countries along the the Belt and Road is strong. We are accelerating the construction of characteristic industrial clusters facing Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia and Europe. The open and developing Xinjiang will bring more opportunities for regional economic growth, which is expected. 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 second-hand car business export region, and one domestic and foreign trade integration pilot. Various open platforms have gathered and integrated, promoting the transformation of Xinjiang from a channel economy to a port economy and industrial economy.

New business card, accelerating the formation of highlands for inland and border opening up

The the Belt and Road Initiative runs through Asia, Europe and Africa. On the one hand, it is the active East Asian economic circle, and on the other hand, it is the developed European economic circle. In the middle, it is located in the vast Eurasian hinterland of Central Asia, with huge economic development potential. Xinjiang is connected to Central Asia by mountains and rivers. Since the beginning of this year, while continuously expanding the space for economic and trade cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, the local government has been continuously improving the industrial chain, supply chain, and logistics chain that connect the west to the east and the east to the west, seeking to open up to the outside world in a wider range of fields and at a deeper level. In recent days, Khorgos Port has been a busy scene, and many domestic cars have orderly and fast customs clearance. Automobiles from Shanghai, Shandong, Henan and other regions are continuously shipped to countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, etc. The quality and service of domestically produced cars are constantly improving, and they are becoming increasingly popular in Central Asia. Ji Wenxu, director of the border inspection department of Khorgos Entry Exit Border Inspection Station, said that as of August 27, the number of exported commercial vehicles through Khorgos Road Port had reached 66000 vehicles this year, an increase of more than 120% year on year.

At the Alashankou Port, the China Europe Express is gathering and waiting to departAs a border province open to the west in China, Xinjiang has 11 national level ports facing Central Asia, closely connecting the two markets and resources. Reporters came from Khorgos, Alataw Pass, Baktu and Irkeshtan ports a few days ago and saw the scene of frequent personnel exchanges and close border trade exchanges. According to the statistics of Urumqi Customs, in the first half of the year, 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%; Import and export to the five Central Asian countries reached 119.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 75.1%. In the Alashankou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, a train loaded with imported wheat from Kazakhstan is slowly entering the bulk grain railway dedicated line. The bulk grain railway dedicated line in the Alashankou Comprehensive Protection Zone has a unloading capacity of 600 tons per hour and a daily warehousing turnover capacity of 6000 tons. It can undertake the unloading, storage, transportation and other services of imported grain crops such as wheat, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds in Central Asia. Li Chenlin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Alashankou City, said that we are actively building an important base for grain storage and processing in the Silk Road Economic Belt. In the future, we will further improve the grain storage capacity of the comprehensive bonded zone and the infrastructure construction of the organic agricultural and sideline product processing industry, continuously promoting the grain processing industry to move towards technology, modernization, and branding.Editor/GaoLiMei