Xinjiang is becoming the bridgehead for China’s opening to the west

Xinjiang is becoming the bridgehead for China’s opening to the west Xinhuanet On the 4th, Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that currently we need to open up more than ever...

Xinhuanet

On the 4th, Nur Bekri, Chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that currently we need to open up more than ever. In the future, Xinjiang will not look back and continue to further increase opening up.

Nur Bekri said at the "Open Xinjiang is More Open" symposium held in Xinjiang that day that in the current new era and new stage, to achieve scientific development in Xinjiang and catch up with latecomers, we need to fully promote opening up to the outside world, participate in international and domestic economic and technological cooperation and competition on a larger scale, in wider fields, and at a higher level, and make better use of two resources and two markets inside and outside the region.

He required governments at all levels and relevant departments to establish a world perspective, form strategic thinking, fully understand the significance of Xinjiang's opening to the outside world in the new era from an overall strategic perspective, further optimize the opening environment, expand open space, enhance opening vitality, and strive to raise Xinjiang's opening to the outside world to a new level.

Since the reform and opening up, especially in recent years, Xinjiang has adhered to the policy of "introducing externally and connecting internally, linking the east with the west, and going from the west to the east" and implemented the combination of "bringing in and going out" to give full play to the geographical advantages of opening to the west. Xinjiang has developed from a closed and backward western border province into a frontier for China's opening to the west. Currently, it has established economic and trade cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions.

Nur Bekri said that currently, Xinjiang is formulating the "Xinjiang Opening to the West Development Plan", striving to truly elevate Xinjiang's opening to the west to a national strategy and promote it, and build Xinjiang into a bridgehead for China's opening to the west and a major land channel for energy resources.

He Yiming, director of the Department of Commerce of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said that Xinjiang has now formed a new pattern of all-round, wide-ranging, and multi-level opening up to the outside world.

He revealed on the 4th that the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center, the first international border cooperation center established between China and other countries, will be closed for operations in the third quarter of this year. This is a cross-border cooperation zone jointly promoted by the heads of state of China and Kazakhstan. By then, citizens of China and Kazakhstan and third countries can freely conduct business negotiations and commodity transactions in this transnational "big market".

He Yiming said that in addition to the established Sino-Russian local border economic and trade coordination mechanism, the Xinjiang-Tajikistan Economic and Trade Cooperation Subcommittee mechanism, and the Xinjiang-Azerbaijan Economic and Trade Cooperation Working Group mechanism, Xinjiang is also actively establishing a local economic and trade cooperation mechanism with Kazakhstan, resuming the preparatory work for a local economic and trade cooperation mechanism with Kyrgyzstan, and is discussing the establishment of an economic and trade cooperation mechanism between Xinjiang and Georgia.

He also revealed that Xinjiang will actively make preliminary preparations for establishing local economic and trade cooperation mechanisms with neighboring India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, etc., and promote the establishment of economic and trade cooperation mechanisms between Xinjiang and Armenia, Turkey, and Iran as soon as possible.

At present, Xinjiang has 17 first-class ports open to the outside world and 12 second-class ports. It has made new progress in the construction of transportation networks and corridors with neighboring countries. The China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline has been completed and put into operation, and the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China natural gas pipeline has been put into operation. It has 12 national-level industrial parks of various types, and is actively applying for, expanding and upgrading multiple national-level economic and technological development zones, comprehensive bonded zones and border economic cooperation zones.

The reporter learned from the Xinjiang Department of Commerce that the first draft of the plans for the Kashgar and Horgos Special Economic Development Zones, which have attracted much attention from the outside world, has been completed. The national policy opinions will be released soon, and the construction work will be fully launched, striving to basically complete the infrastructure construction in about five years. ,

Xinjiang, which is in the current period of great construction, opening up and development, has attracted more and more large domestic and foreign large enterprises and groups. By the end of 2010, 308 well-known companies such as the Fortune Global 500 and China's Top 500 had settled in Xinjiang, an increase of 113 companies from 2009. Recently, Volkswagen Group has decided to invest and build factories in Xinjiang to develop the automobile industry.