aimarraul
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2008
- Messages
- 2,778
- Reaction score
- 0
China pushes for opening up to Eurasian heartland
China pushes for opening up to Eurasian heartland
2011-09-01 18:19:28 FeedbackPrintRSS
URUMQI, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China will speed up the opening up of its western inland region, continue to fund cross-border infrastructure projects, and roll out favorable policies to make Xinjiang a key economic hub at the heartland of Eurasia.
Vice Premier Li Keqiang told officials and business leaders attending the first China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Thursday that opening up to countries in Eurasian heartland was an important part of the country's overall opening-up.
Xinjiang, which covers one-sixth of China's landmass, borders key regional players such as Russia, Kazahstan, and Pakistan. The region also holds abundant oil and gas reserves. But regional economic activities were slowed partly due to poor infrastructure along the border, which runs across rough territories such as the Pamirs plateau.
The region has also been engaged in a long battle against violence that's been detrimental to economic development. Zhu Hailun, Urumqi's top official, told reporters Wednesday that it took almost a year for the city's economy to recover from the deadly 2009 riots.
Security was tight Thursday in and around the expo venue -- the 1.3 -billion-yuan (201.5 million U.S. dollars)- Xinjiang International Convention Center located in suburban Urumqi. Authorities ramped up security after police foiled attempts to sabotage the event, Zhu said.
China opened up to the world from its eastern coast in the late 1970s when late leader Deng Xiaoping unleashed the landmark market economic reform. Decades of a booming export-oriented economy has brought tremendous prosperity to the eastern regions.
"Looking to the future, we will accelerate the opening up of the inland and border regions while advancing the opening up of the eastern region," Li said.
The vice premier said Xinjiang is a key region in the government's strategy to develop the country's western regions and the central government has drawn up and is implementing a series of favorable policies covering tax, investment in infrastructure and environmental protection, exploitation of resources and welfare projects to boost Xinjiang's development.
He said the government is working to speed up the opening-up of Xinjiang by setting up special economic zones in two border cities, restructuring local industries, expanding the number of border trade ports, and implementing financial measures to encourage the use of Chinese currency, the yuan, in cross-border trade and investment.
Li also urged neighboring countries to fast track cross-border infrastructure projects - roads, railways, flight routes, pipelines, and telecommunication networks to explore the full potential of transport across the heartland of Eurasia.
Beijing will continue to provide low-interest loans to other countries for infrastructure projects, he added. Xinjiang now has only one cross-border railway, the 460-km line that connects Urumqi to Kazakhstan' s rail through the Alataw pass. A second China-Kazakhstan rail line is being constructed to link Xinjiang's trading port Horgos to the inland rail network.
Pakistani officials have also proposed constructing a cross-border railway to link its northern border with Kashgar, an old Silk Road town and a major city today in southern Xinjiang. Pakistan's ambassador to China Masood Khan said that a feasibility study of the railway had been conducted, but there is still no time-table for construction.
"By using this option, you can shorten China's trading routes from the Gulf to Shanghai by about 5,000 miles. It is very short," Khan said, adding that talks about a cross border pipeline that can carry oil and gas to China through inland Eurasia have also begun.
"New opportunities have emerged for China and countries in the heart of Eurasia. The pace of regional economic integration is growing significantly," Li said.
China's trade with central, south, and west Asian countries reached 270 billion U.S. dollars last year. "There is great potential to boost regional trade. Governments should further expand their domestic markets and oppose protectionism to facilitate trade," he said.
EXPO
The idea of the China-Eurasia Expo was part of the central government's plan to boost development in Xinjiang after the 2009 Uruqmi riots that left 197 people dead and 1,700 others injured.
Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, described the event as a key move in the country's overall opening-up strategy and an important occasion to showcase Xinjiang's economic development and openness to overseas businesses.
"We need to make the expo a name-card for Xinjiang's prosperity, openness, and social harmony," the chairman said.
Organizers said about 50,000 officials and business people from China and about 30 countries, regions and international organizations are expected to attend the five-day trade fair. It was upgraded from the 19-year-old China Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair, a regional trade fair, last year.
Authorities said the upgrade will make Urumqi an important exchange platform for leaders and businesses in China and its western and southern neighbors.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev said that the expo serves as a platform to help regional governments and business leaders solve tough issues like energy exploitation and environmental protection while enhancing inter-government cooperation.
Small traders place hope on the expo too.
"Business is ok, but I hope to make more contracts at the expo," said Tuniyatz Imin, an ethnic Uygur from the county of Luntai who sells dried fruit products.
"I reaped profits from the government's increased investment in the food processing sector," Imin said. "But many farmers in my county remain poor. The government should try to further raise farmers' incomes."
Zhu Hailun, the party secretary of the Communist Party of China's Urumqi municipal committee, said the value of the expo will be measured by the value of trade and investment deals Urumqi receives this year.
In the first six months alone, more than 300 domestic companies, including the construction and machinery company Sany Group and the electronics retailer Suning Appliance, invested a total of more than 28 billion yuan in Urumqi, Zhu said. Mall developer Dalian Wanda Group is planning to invest in Urumqi this year as well.
But Zhu said that maintaining stability is Xinjiang's local governments' primary challenge. With violence checked, the region can seize development opportunities at the expo and greatly raise the living standards of local residents, he said.
"Overall stability results in overall development, and long-term stability results in long-term growth -- that is Xinjiang's reality," Zhu said.
China pushes for opening up to Eurasian heartland
2011-09-01 18:19:28 FeedbackPrintRSS
URUMQI, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- China will speed up the opening up of its western inland region, continue to fund cross-border infrastructure projects, and roll out favorable policies to make Xinjiang a key economic hub at the heartland of Eurasia.
Vice Premier Li Keqiang told officials and business leaders attending the first China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Thursday that opening up to countries in Eurasian heartland was an important part of the country's overall opening-up.
Xinjiang, which covers one-sixth of China's landmass, borders key regional players such as Russia, Kazahstan, and Pakistan. The region also holds abundant oil and gas reserves. But regional economic activities were slowed partly due to poor infrastructure along the border, which runs across rough territories such as the Pamirs plateau.
The region has also been engaged in a long battle against violence that's been detrimental to economic development. Zhu Hailun, Urumqi's top official, told reporters Wednesday that it took almost a year for the city's economy to recover from the deadly 2009 riots.
Security was tight Thursday in and around the expo venue -- the 1.3 -billion-yuan (201.5 million U.S. dollars)- Xinjiang International Convention Center located in suburban Urumqi. Authorities ramped up security after police foiled attempts to sabotage the event, Zhu said.
China opened up to the world from its eastern coast in the late 1970s when late leader Deng Xiaoping unleashed the landmark market economic reform. Decades of a booming export-oriented economy has brought tremendous prosperity to the eastern regions.
"Looking to the future, we will accelerate the opening up of the inland and border regions while advancing the opening up of the eastern region," Li said.
The vice premier said Xinjiang is a key region in the government's strategy to develop the country's western regions and the central government has drawn up and is implementing a series of favorable policies covering tax, investment in infrastructure and environmental protection, exploitation of resources and welfare projects to boost Xinjiang's development.
He said the government is working to speed up the opening-up of Xinjiang by setting up special economic zones in two border cities, restructuring local industries, expanding the number of border trade ports, and implementing financial measures to encourage the use of Chinese currency, the yuan, in cross-border trade and investment.
Li also urged neighboring countries to fast track cross-border infrastructure projects - roads, railways, flight routes, pipelines, and telecommunication networks to explore the full potential of transport across the heartland of Eurasia.
Beijing will continue to provide low-interest loans to other countries for infrastructure projects, he added. Xinjiang now has only one cross-border railway, the 460-km line that connects Urumqi to Kazakhstan' s rail through the Alataw pass. A second China-Kazakhstan rail line is being constructed to link Xinjiang's trading port Horgos to the inland rail network.
Pakistani officials have also proposed constructing a cross-border railway to link its northern border with Kashgar, an old Silk Road town and a major city today in southern Xinjiang. Pakistan's ambassador to China Masood Khan said that a feasibility study of the railway had been conducted, but there is still no time-table for construction.
"By using this option, you can shorten China's trading routes from the Gulf to Shanghai by about 5,000 miles. It is very short," Khan said, adding that talks about a cross border pipeline that can carry oil and gas to China through inland Eurasia have also begun.
"New opportunities have emerged for China and countries in the heart of Eurasia. The pace of regional economic integration is growing significantly," Li said.
China's trade with central, south, and west Asian countries reached 270 billion U.S. dollars last year. "There is great potential to boost regional trade. Governments should further expand their domestic markets and oppose protectionism to facilitate trade," he said.
EXPO
The idea of the China-Eurasia Expo was part of the central government's plan to boost development in Xinjiang after the 2009 Uruqmi riots that left 197 people dead and 1,700 others injured.
Nur Bekri, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, described the event as a key move in the country's overall opening-up strategy and an important occasion to showcase Xinjiang's economic development and openness to overseas businesses.
"We need to make the expo a name-card for Xinjiang's prosperity, openness, and social harmony," the chairman said.
Organizers said about 50,000 officials and business people from China and about 30 countries, regions and international organizations are expected to attend the five-day trade fair. It was upgraded from the 19-year-old China Urumqi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair, a regional trade fair, last year.
Authorities said the upgrade will make Urumqi an important exchange platform for leaders and businesses in China and its western and southern neighbors.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Muratbek Imanaliev said that the expo serves as a platform to help regional governments and business leaders solve tough issues like energy exploitation and environmental protection while enhancing inter-government cooperation.
Small traders place hope on the expo too.
"Business is ok, but I hope to make more contracts at the expo," said Tuniyatz Imin, an ethnic Uygur from the county of Luntai who sells dried fruit products.
"I reaped profits from the government's increased investment in the food processing sector," Imin said. "But many farmers in my county remain poor. The government should try to further raise farmers' incomes."
Zhu Hailun, the party secretary of the Communist Party of China's Urumqi municipal committee, said the value of the expo will be measured by the value of trade and investment deals Urumqi receives this year.
In the first six months alone, more than 300 domestic companies, including the construction and machinery company Sany Group and the electronics retailer Suning Appliance, invested a total of more than 28 billion yuan in Urumqi, Zhu said. Mall developer Dalian Wanda Group is planning to invest in Urumqi this year as well.
But Zhu said that maintaining stability is Xinjiang's local governments' primary challenge. With violence checked, the region can seize development opportunities at the expo and greatly raise the living standards of local residents, he said.
"Overall stability results in overall development, and long-term stability results in long-term growth -- that is Xinjiang's reality," Zhu said.
