As early as more than two thousand years ago, Xinjiang, as the key to the ancient Silk Road, had already connected Eastern and Western civilizations, writing the magnificent song "Envoys look at each other on the road, and business travel is endless."

What really brought about historic changes in Xinjiang's relationship with the world is the strategic plan of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core for the opening-up and development of Xinjiang in the 70 years since the founding of the Autonomous Region, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, with unprecedented strength and high positioning.

Incorporating Xinjiang's regional opening-up strategy into the overall layout of the country's opening-up to the west, giving it the strategic positioning of the core area of ​​the Silk Road Economic Belt, the Asia-Europe Golden Channel and the bridgehead to the west, opening up broad space for Xinjiang to the world.

The Tianshan Mountains are open and vibrant; the Asia-Europe Center has a surge of open momentum - Today, Xinjiang is bravely at the forefront.

From the border to the hub

Gold Channel Releases Gold Value

The foundation of openness lies in the accessibility.

Xinjiang is located in the geographical center of the Eurasian continent. The New Eurasian Continental Bridge, the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor meet here. The innate location advantage destined to be the most convenient land route for my country to connect Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia and even Europe. The construction and development of the autonomous region in the past 70 years has transformed this "innate advantage" into a "development victory". This area, once considered "remote" has stood at the forefront of opening up to the outside world and has become a "golden channel" for my country to connect the world.

Looking back at the opening process, every step is engraved with the mark of the times.

In 1978, the spring breeze of reform and opening up blew across the Tianshan Mountains; in 1979, Urumqi, Shihezi and Turpan were the first to open up to the outside world, opening the curtain for Xinjiang to actively connect with the world; in 1980, the first Sino-foreign joint venture in Xinjiang, Tianshan Wool Textile Co., Ltd., was established, opening a new page of using foreign capital; in 1988, the central government granted Xinjiang the approval authority to dispatch foreign economic institutions, and since then, the Horgos Port has been opened to third-country personnel, and Xinjiang's door to opening up is getting bigger and bigger.

Entering the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to Xinjiang's opening up to the outside world, presided over the Central Xinjiang work symposium twice, and visited Xinjiang three times to point out the direction and draw a blueprint for Xinjiang to play its role in the construction of the "Belt and Road".

Keep the instructions in mind and work hard.

Xinjiang fully utilizes its unique location advantages of "five ports to eight countries and all the way to Europe and Asia" to accelerate the construction of a major channel for opening up to the outside world.

The China-Europe Express is a typical example.

In 2024, the number of China-Europe (Central Asia) trains reached 16,400, which has remained above 10,000 for five consecutive years. As of July 27, the number of China-Europe (Central Asia) trains at the Alasan Pass and Horgos Railway Port in Xinjiang has exceeded 10,000.

The steel camel fleets not only carry goods, but also carry Xinjiang's mission as the core area of ​​the Silk Road Economic Belt, and embark on a new footprint of interconnection in the Eurasian continent.

The construction of the passage is not limited to railways. In recent years, Xinjiang has actively participated in the joint construction of the new western land-sea channel, continuously accelerated the construction of railways, highways, aviation and trade and logistics networks, and promoted the formation of a new pattern of "land-sea linkage, domestic and foreign linkage, and east-west mutual assistance". At present, the full line of expressways from Xinjiang to Europe has been completed, and a total of 119 bilateral international road transportation lines have been opened, accounting for more than one-third of the country's total; transportation airports are scattered, and international passenger routes are reaching 17 countries and regions; multimodal transport models such as railway, air, road and railway, and sea are constantly maturing.

The gold channel releases gold value. In 2024, Xinjiang's total foreign trade imports and exports were 434.16 billion yuan, crossing three trillion levels for three consecutive years.

In 2024, Xinjiang's two-way investment showed a good development trend, with the Fortune 500 companies successively making arrangements, and the proportion of strategic emerging industries such as modern logistics and new energy continued to rise; local enterprises' "going global" pace was steady, and the turnover of external contracting projects achieved a growth of 42.6%, ranking fourth in the country.

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What is even more exciting is the upgrade of the channel in the future: in 2025, the second-tier project of the Alasankou-Kazakhstan Dostek Railway will enter the agenda, and the China-Jijibouti Railway project starting from Kashgar, Xinjiang, China officially started construction. The implementation of these major transportation infrastructure will reshape the interconnection pattern between China and Central Asia and even Eurasia - not only shortens regional time and space distances and improves logistics efficiency, but also allows Central Asia's mineral resources and high-quality agricultural products to enter China more smoothly, allowing China's industrial finished products and advanced technologies to radiate to Central Asia more conveniently, and realize the open vision of "two-way win-win and interconnected".

Intersecting with the world and connecting with the times, while Xinjiang is developing itself, it is contributing "Chinese strength" to the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain.

Drive the momentum westward

Reform and innovation to expand new space

The depth of opening up depends on the intensity of reform.

Standing at the forefront of opening up to the west, Xinjiang insists on reform and innovation, incorporates its own regional opening-up strategy into the overall layout of opening up to the west, and continues to promote opening up to the outside world to continuously expand to a deeper, broader field and all-rounder.

The China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone is the "test field" and "vanguard" of Xinjiang's institutional opening.

On November 1, 2023, the Xinjiang Free Trade Pilot Zone was unveiled, becoming the first free trade pilot zone in the northwest border region of my country. Over the past year, the Xinjiang Free Trade Pilot Zone has delivered a brilliant "reform answer" with "institutional innovation" as the core: relevant departments and areas have issued 35 support policies, delegated 45 autonomous region-level authority, formed 35 provincial institutional innovation achievements and typical cases and copied and promoted them throughout Xinjiang; in 2024, the Xinjiang Free Trade Pilot Zone added more than 9,000 new enterprises, and the total import and export volume accounted for more than 30% of the entire Xinjiang.

The dividends of institutional innovation are not only reflected in the free trade pilot zone, but also penetrate into every corner of Xinjiang's open development.

In Nilek County, more than 200 kilometers away from Horgos, the salmon breeding base ushered in its first net fishing this year. These fresh products produced from the "farest place from the sea" are efficiently moving to domestic and foreign markets: supplying domestic chilled salmon from Yili Yining International Airport and can arrive at Shanghai supermarkets within 24 hours; frozen products exported to Southeast Asia are treated with liquid nitrogen and shipped from Shanghai Port and can appear on the Philippine dining table in 5 days.

The key to achieving rapid access to the market from inland borders to coastal and even international markets is to rely on "fast" - fast transportation and fast customs clearance. The "Green Channel for Local Inspection" and "Internet Customs" one-stop declaration services specially set up by local customs provide strong guarantees for the efficient export of fresh food products.

Urumqi Tianshan International Airport launched bonded aviation fuel refueling business in June 2024, saving 13% of fuel costs for each stop-over international flight, allowing more aircraft to be transferred here and more cargo to circulate there. The establishment of the Silk Road Economic Belt Legal Zone provides legal guarantees for international trade; the establishment of the Overseas Talent Service Center has gathered global wisdom for Xinjiang... One innovative measure has been like giving wings to the "golden channel", making Xinjiang's open environment more attractive.

Xinjiang has unlimited potential and the world of opportunities is shared.

In June 2024, the 8th China-Europe Expo was held in Urumqi, with 50 countries, regions and international organizations, as well as more than 1,000 domestic companies and institutions participating, and the United States participated in the first group. Paul Courtney, Mayor of Barsto, California, admitted that he was "uneasy" before coming, but after feeling it on the spot, he sighed: "Xinjiang society is very open, the people are very enthusiastic, and are opening the door to the whole world."

At the 2025 (China) Asia-Europe Commodity Trade Expo, Belarusian Ambassador to China, Alexander Cherviakov, highly praised the role of the expo and expressed his willingness to "deepen pragmatic cooperation and promote mutual benefit and win-win results."

From "policy dividends" to "institutional innovation", Xinjiang is becoming a "investment hot spot" that attracts the world with a better business environment and more lively open momentum. In 2024, Xinjiang implemented 4,391 investment promotion projects, and introduced 935.526 billion yuan of funds outside the district, an increase of 11% over the same period last year.

From a "channel economy" to a "hub economy", Xinjiang is injecting new impetus into the high-quality development of the regional economy.

The world sees Xinjiang

Xinjiang goes to the world

The temperature of openness comes from the fusion of civilizations.

Over the past 70 years, Xinjiang's opening up is not only the smooth flow of the "trade channel", but also the construction of a "cultural bridge". From "bringing in" to let the world perceive the beauty of Xinjiang to "going out" to integrate Xinjiang culture into the world, Xinjiang is building an open narrative system of "dialogue between tradition and modernity, local and world resonance" with a diverse and inclusive attitude, making Xinjiang stories a vivid footnote to the Chinese story.

In May this year, the Y29 China-Central Asia International Humanities and Tourism Special Train departed from Xi'an, departed through the Horgos Port in Xinjiang, and arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan. More than 200 passengers embarked on a transnational folk journey; 80 classic vintage cars from 20 countries around the world traveled across half of China and also arrived in Horgos.

The visits of these two groups of "special visitors" are a microcosm of Xinjiang's opening up. In 2024, Xinjiang received more than 5.1 million inbound tourists and international tourism revenue reached US$4.475 billion.

Charles, a Frenchman who has lived in Xinjiang for 11 years, has long regarded this place as his second hometown. He said: "In Urumqi, I can speak Chinese and teach French. I can find baguettes if I like to eat naan. This is diversity and tolerance."

These true feelings from "straight people" are more powerful than any publicity - the open Xinjiang is allowing the world to see its tolerance and warmth in a "silent" way.

While "bringing in", the confident Xinjiang "goes out" with strong steps, leading Xinjiang's culture and technology to the world.

Today, Xinjiang's overseas cultural tourism promotion has carried out 32 batches of exchanges and cooperation in 21 countries and regions. From cultural display to spiritual communication, Xinjiang is telling a diverse and integrated civilization story in a way that the world can understand and accept.

What is more profound is that Xinjiang is actively accepting the world's observation with an "open attitude".

During the 2024 Autonomous Region Two Sessions, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, observer states, dialogue partner countries were invited to attend the audit for the first time, and the international organizations were also accepted reports from 14 domestic media, 10 Hong Kong and Macao media, and 4 foreign media; the 2025 Autonomous Region Two Sessions continued this practice, allowing the world to see the democracy and development of Xinjiang through the "Two Sessions window".

In 2024, more than 500 batches of tens of thousands of people, including foreign politicians, envoys to China, international organizations, entrepreneurs, religious figures, experts and scholars, media reporters, etc., visited Xinjiang. This is the year with the most foreign affairs activities in Xinjiang.

Today, Xinjiang is standing calmly and generously in the spotlight of the world with its development momentum, civilization rhyme, openness and confidence, demonstrating its open mind to welcome guests from all directions and embrace the voice of the world.

The confidence of Xinjiang's openness and confidence lies in the fact that General Secretary Xi Jinping is leading the way as the core of the Party Central Committee and the core of the whole Party, the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and the complete and accurate implementation of the Party's Xinjiang governance strategy in the new era.

The Tianshan Mountains are majestic and stand with unchanging ambitions; the desert is vast and carries infinite hope. Standing at the intersection of the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the layout of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the picture of Xinjiang's open development is clear and magnificent, and magnificent. (Shi Xin)