Xinhua Insight: "Bridgehead" takes shape amid China's fresh westward opening-up drive
cri
2013/11/02
URUMQI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The northwestern region of Xinjiang has been leading China's latest opening-up drive, fortifying a "bridgehead" for the country's economic and trade ties with the Eurasian nations.
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday while opening the second China-Eurasia Expo at Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, that the region's geographical, cultural and resource advantages have become more prominent in the course of China's opening up to the west and along the border areas.
"Xinjiang has become the bridgehead for China's mutually beneficial cooperation with the Eurasian nations, especially the neighboring countries," he said.
Xinjiang is home to the westernmost section of the Eurasian Land Bridge, a transcontinental rail route, at the Chinese end, connecting east Asia and west Europe.
It abuts on Pakistan, Mongolia, Russia, India and four other central Asian countries with a borderline extending 5,600 km, giving it an easy access to markets in the Eurasian heartland.
SPRINGBOARD
At the ongoing expo, participants said they also believe the "bridgehead" for China's opening-up to the west has taken shape.
Some investors expressed great interest in exporting their products through the gateway of Xinjiang to central Asia.
"Yes, I believe Xinjiang is a perfect 'springboard' for our business to access the west, the central Asian areas," said Peng Jun, board chairman of a shoe company in the southwestern Sichuan Province at the expo.
"Our logistics costs will be cut by at least 20 percent if we export our products through the westward gateway of Xinjiang rather than through the sea route in the eastern coasts."
Others have already set up business in the autonomous region where they can reach out to markets in the central Asia and further west with less logistics costs.
Yiwu Business Chamber, an investment and trade organization based in the eastern Zhejiang Province, has invested 4 billion yuan (630 million U.S. dollars) to set up a logistics center in Xinjiang, exporting small commodities to Dushanbe and Kabul, and even as far as London, through cross-border highways.
One of the chamber's exhibitors told Xinhua that they have chosen Xinjiang because its geographic location and the increasing number of roads and railways.
BOOMING INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION
The "springboard" came amid Xinjiang's massive infrastructure construction along its borders.
Seventeen state-level open ports, two international airports and extensive roads and railways link the landlocked region with its neighbours to the west, most of which share same languages and cultures with the ethnic groups densely populated in the autonomous region.
Addressing the expo's opening ceremony on Sunday, Premier Wen urged an advanced cooperation in cross-border infrastructure, including the China-Central Asia natural gas pipelines and major railway and highway projects, to accelerate the connectivity process.
Participants echoed Wen's calling, saying more roads, railways and airway routes will link Xinjiang closer to its Eurasian neighbours, bringing more trade and opportunities.
"In 2011, 73 percent of the total trade volume between Tajikistan and China came from Xinjiang," said Damdorov Kalon, Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in China.
"We expect promising prospect of the Xinjiang-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation," he told a forum at the expo.
The bigger role of Xinjiang came after a change of perspectives.
"As a border region, Xinjiang is far from the central and eastern part of China," Li Jingyuan, secretary general of the Secretariat of China Eurasia Expo, told a press conference at the expo.
"But on a bigger map of Eurasia, Xinjiang is located at the geological center, being China's frontier to the west."
But some experts warned that difficulties and challenges remain for Xinjiang.
"Xinjiang needs to continue its development and further optimize its economic structure," said Shi Lan, deputy head of Institute of Central Asia Studies at Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.
"With a fast development, central Asian countries, especially Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have seen drastic development," she said. "If Xinjiang does not catch up, they would probably turn to more attractive regions in east or central China for capital and technology cooperation."
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Sunday while opening the second China-Eurasia Expo at Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, that the region's geographical, cultural and resource advantages have become more prominent in the course of China's opening up to the west and along the border areas.
"Xinjiang has become the bridgehead for China's mutually beneficial cooperation with the Eurasian nations, especially the neighboring countries," he said.
Xinjiang is home to the westernmost section of the Eurasian Land Bridge, a transcontinental rail route, at the Chinese end, connecting east Asia and west Europe.
It abuts on Pakistan, Mongolia, Russia, India and four other central Asian countries with a borderline extending 5,600 km, giving it an easy access to markets in the Eurasian heartland.
SPRINGBOARD
At the ongoing expo, participants said they also believe the "bridgehead" for China's opening-up to the west has taken shape.
Some investors expressed great interest in exporting their products through the gateway of Xinjiang to central Asia.
"Yes, I believe Xinjiang is a perfect 'springboard' for our business to access the west, the central Asian areas," said Peng Jun, board chairman of a shoe company in the southwestern Sichuan Province at the expo.
"Our logistics costs will be cut by at least 20 percent if we export our products through the westward gateway of Xinjiang rather than through the sea route in the eastern coasts."
Others have already set up business in the autonomous region where they can reach out to markets in the central Asia and further west with less logistics costs.
Yiwu Business Chamber, an investment and trade organization based in the eastern Zhejiang Province, has invested 4 billion yuan (630 million U.S. dollars) to set up a logistics center in Xinjiang, exporting small commodities to Dushanbe and Kabul, and even as far as London, through cross-border highways.
One of the chamber's exhibitors told Xinhua that they have chosen Xinjiang because its geographic location and the increasing number of roads and railways.
BOOMING INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRUCTION
The "springboard" came amid Xinjiang's massive infrastructure construction along its borders.
Seventeen state-level open ports, two international airports and extensive roads and railways link the landlocked region with its neighbours to the west, most of which share same languages and cultures with the ethnic groups densely populated in the autonomous region.
Addressing the expo's opening ceremony on Sunday, Premier Wen urged an advanced cooperation in cross-border infrastructure, including the China-Central Asia natural gas pipelines and major railway and highway projects, to accelerate the connectivity process.
Participants echoed Wen's calling, saying more roads, railways and airway routes will link Xinjiang closer to its Eurasian neighbours, bringing more trade and opportunities.
"In 2011, 73 percent of the total trade volume between Tajikistan and China came from Xinjiang," said Damdorov Kalon, Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in China.
"We expect promising prospect of the Xinjiang-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation," he told a forum at the expo.
The bigger role of Xinjiang came after a change of perspectives.
"As a border region, Xinjiang is far from the central and eastern part of China," Li Jingyuan, secretary general of the Secretariat of China Eurasia Expo, told a press conference at the expo.
"But on a bigger map of Eurasia, Xinjiang is located at the geological center, being China's frontier to the west."
But some experts warned that difficulties and challenges remain for Xinjiang.
"Xinjiang needs to continue its development and further optimize its economic structure," said Shi Lan, deputy head of Institute of Central Asia Studies at Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.
"With a fast development, central Asian countries, especially Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have seen drastic development," she said. "If Xinjiang does not catch up, they would probably turn to more attractive regions in east or central China for capital and technology cooperation."