In the depths of winter, trains of China Europe freight trains loaded with goods continue to flow through the Alashankou Port; The Sino Kazakhstan Khorgos International Border Cooperation Center has close exchanges with Chinese and Kazakh businessmen... Xinjiang port is full of merchants and busy logistics, and the upsurge of opening up and development is surging from north to south of Tianshan.  

Looking back at 2025, the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway has begun, playing a new chapter in cross-border connectivity; The implementation of 129 reforms in the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone has yielded results, and institutional opening-up has been deeply promoted; The import and export scale of Xinjiang's foreign trade maintains high-speed growth, and the high-quality development of foreign trade has reached a new level

In this year, Xinjiang, located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, anchored the strategic positioning of the Asia Europe Golden Passage and the gateway to the west. With high-level opening up as the engine, facility connectivity to strengthen the backbone, foreign trade to improve quality and build a foundation, institutional innovation to enhance vitality, and promoting the high-quality development of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, it has painted a new chapter of opening up with "smooth channels, prosperous trade, strong vitality, and industrial prosperity".  

Smooth the golden channel and accelerate the formation of interconnected networks

On April 29, 2025, at 10:00 local time in Kyrgyzstan, with the roar of construction machinery, the three key controlled tunnels of Ferghana Mountain, Naren No.1, and Koshtbeg on the Kyrgyzstan section of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway started construction simultaneously. This landmark project of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", which was personally promoted by the three heads of state, has officially entered the substantive construction stage.  

After the completion of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway, which starts from Kashgar in Xinjiang, China in the east and ends in Andijan, Uzbekistan in the west, it will not only solve the bottleneck of connectivity in Central Asia, but also make Xinjiang a railway hub connecting China with Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe.  

In 2025, a number of projects related to the construction of Xinjiang's international logistics corridor, represented by the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway, have made new progress: the opening of the northern terminal area of Urumqi Tianshan International Airport, new progress has been made in the G315 line Topa Turgat port road project, and the construction of the Biedili port road has begun

Open development, channels come first. Xinjiang fully leverages its unique geographical advantages of "five ports connecting eight countries and one road connecting Europe and Asia" to accelerate the construction of a major channel for opening up to the outside world.

At present, the Xinjiang Europe expressway has been fully connected, with a total of 119 bilateral international road transportation routes opened, accounting for more than one-third of the country's total; We have 28 transportation airports, ranking first in the country in terms of quantity. As of November 2025, we will open 33 international passenger routes and 37 international cargo routes; The operating mileage of the railway is 9557 kilometers, covering all prefecture level cities and over 80% of county-level administrative areas in Xinjiang; The total length of highways exceeds 230000 kilometers (including the Corps).  

With the advancement of comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network construction, the infrastructure for interconnectivity between Xinjiang, China and neighboring countries is constantly improving. A golden channel that connects the domestic market to the east, links Central Asia and Europe to the west, facilitates frequent trade exchanges, and supports the country's westward opening is accelerating its construction.  

Facility connectivity promotes trade integration and improves the quality and efficiency of goods import and export.  

In 2025, the country's first "smart railway port+territory fast customs clearance" model will be launched at Khorgos railway port, greatly reducing the time for customs clearance of goods. Under the new model, the transit time for imported goods has been reduced from 2-3 days to within 16 hours, and the transit time for exported goods from the local area has been reduced from 6 hours to 1 hour.  

The steel camel caravan continues to play the role of an international land transportation artery. In 2025, the number of China Europe (Central Asia) trains passing through the Alashankou Port throughout the year will reach 8165, setting a new historical high and providing strong momentum for ensuring the stability and smoothness of the international industrial and supply chains.  

Urumqi Air Port has also risen strongly. From January to November 2025, the import and export cargo volume of Urumqi Air Port reached 97000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 177.8%, with 5204 inbound and outbound cargo flights, a year-on-year increase of 229%.  

Through the guidance of major projects and the empowerment of port upgrades, Xinjiang has played a role as a "golden channel" connecting domestic and international markets and resources, promoting the formation of a new pattern of opening up to the outside world with "linkage between land and sea, and mutual assistance between the east and the west".  

Building a bridgehead for opening up to the west, better serving and integrating into the domestic and international dual circulation

Xinjiang is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent and is the forefront window for China's westward opening.  

With the continuous deepening of the construction of the Asia Europe Golden Channel, the Golden Channel has released the value of gold. In 2024, the total import and export volume of Xinjiang's foreign trade reached 434.16 billion yuan, surpassing three hundred billion yuan levels for three consecutive years. In November 2025, the total import and export value of Xinjiang's foreign trade was 459.19 billion yuan, exceeding the annual level of 2024, with a year-on-year growth rate of 14.1%, which is 10.5 percentage points higher than the national growth rate.  

The advantage of Xinjiang lies in its location; The strength of Xinjiang lies in its hub.  

Nowadays, domestic clothing and general merchandise, electronic products, mechanical equipment, and new energy vehicles are expanding into international markets such as Central Asia and Europe through Xinjiang; Honey, fruits, wheat and other agricultural products and mineral resources from Central Asia have also entered the domestic market through Xinjiang ports.  

The transformation from a "channel economy" to a "hub economy" and an "industrial economy" has comprehensively strengthened Xinjiang's hub function of "connecting the east and exporting from the west, and attracting the east from the west", realizing the open vision of "two-way win-win and interconnection".

On December 22, 2025, with the completion of customs clearance procedures for 3 trucks of 12.6 tons of live king crabs at Jimunai Port, the only land port in Xinjiang to carry out this business, the import trade volume of live king crabs exceeded 100 million yuan.  

At Khorgos Highway Port, the driver Uruman Halia's daily job is to drive domestic commercial vehicles to Kazakhstan. As a 'car ferryman', Uluman has been traveling back and forth between China and Kazakhstan 10-20 times a month for the past 3 years.  

After Khorgos Highway Port launched the mode of "self driving export commodity vehicles for rapid customs clearance", the occupation of "car ferry" came into being. Since 2023, over 7000 people have been engaged in this job. According to the statistics of Khorgos Customs, 396000 cars were exported at Khorgos Port in the first November of 2025, up 4.6% year on year, a record high.  

To demonstrate greater achievements in high-level opening up, Xinjiang relies on the advantages of open channels and institutional dividends, vigorously cultivates characteristic advantageous industries, promotes deep integration of industries and foreign trade, further consolidates the foundation of foreign trade industries, strengthens the driving force of foreign trade development, and truly focuses on the sense of achievement of enterprise development and the happiness of improving people's livelihoods in the results of opening up.  

In the Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone (Toutunhe District), Xinjiang Dadao Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. is rushing to produce heavy truck parts orders for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The chairman of the company, Yang Sen, said that the company's production of buses, special vehicles, etc. will further open up the markets of neighboring countries, and it is expected that the annual export value will exceed 200 million yuan.  

In the past year, Xinjiang's foreign trade has been stable and doing even better, achieving a transition from an opportunity driven explosive period to a stable period driven by resilience and quality efficiency, and better serving and integrating into the domestic and international dual circulation.  

Constructing pilot free trade zones and continuously expanding international cooperation space

Only reformers advance, only innovators are strong. Since the establishment of the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone two years ago, 129 reform measures have been implemented and proven effective, continuously breaking through in areas such as customs clearance convenience, financial opening, and government services. A series of "national first" and "Xinjiang first" reform measures have been launched, and institutional opening has been pushed forward in depth.  

The Urumqi Economic Development Zone is the main battlefield for reform and innovation in the pilot free trade zone. This area accounts for less than 10% of the Urumqi Economic and Technological Development Zone (Toutunhe District), contributing nearly 70% of the trade volume, with over 10000 new enterprises established, becoming an important "growth pole" driving opening up to the outside world.  

We rely on normalized enterprise research and cross departmental collaboration mechanisms to focus on the pain points and difficulties of enterprises and launch innovative measures. We have formed more than 20 innovative measures in the fields of cross-border logistics, customs clearance convenience, financial opening, and government optimization. "Chen Tingting, the head of the Urumqi Economic Development Zone (Toutunhe District) Free Trade Office, introduced that 8 reform and innovation cases have been replicated and promoted throughout Xinjiang, allowing the reform dividends to benefit more business entities.  

Financial openness and innovation inject "living water" into the development of enterprises. The first data asset financing loan in Xinjiang has landed in the Urumqi Economic Development Zone functional block. A logistics technology enterprise in Xinjiang has successfully obtained a bank credit of 5 million yuan with its accumulated cross-border logistics data assets, solving the dilemma of light assets and difficult financing for technology-based foreign trade enterprises.  

The use of data assets as collateral for financing is an important breakthrough in the financial reform of the pilot free trade zone, "said the person in charge of the handling bank.  

In addition, the "1210 Bonded Commodity 'Inventory Dynamic Mortgage' Financing Model" has also been promoted throughout Xinjiang. Enterprises can obtain financing based on the dynamic goods in the bonded warehouse without occupying their own funds, effectively improving the efficiency of capital turnover.

The "self driving export commodity vehicle rapid customs clearance mode" initiated by Khorgos District has been filed by the General Administration of Customs and will be replicated and promoted nationwide.  

The 117 reform pilot tasks and 207 specific measures in the Kashgar area have been completed by 99.03%, significantly improving the level of cross-border trade facilitation.  

This year, in the process of reform and innovation, Xinjiang has continuously accelerated the pace of high-quality development in the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, and achieved new results in opening up, exchanging and cooperating with the outside world.  

High level mutual visits and exchanges between Xinjiang, China and various countries and regions around the world continue, and the relationship is becoming increasingly close. It strengthens cooperation with Central Asian countries and Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries in areas such as economy, trade, industry, energy, and technology. Today, the "the Belt and Road" Joint Laboratory, the International Offshore Science and Technology Innovation Center, and the China Central Asia International Technology Transfer Center have been built one after another; The influence of the China Eurasia Expo is increasingly expanding, and the scope of participation has expanded from traditional Eurasian countries to regions such as ASEAN, the Arab League, and Latin America; Give full play to the role of local economic and trade cooperation mechanisms, hold international exhibitions and forums, and create a new situation of win-win cooperation.  

High level exchanges are frequent, while civilian exchanges are close. People, logistics, and capital flows are constantly gathering in Xinjiang. By the end of December 2025, the number of inbound and outbound passengers passing through Khorgos Port will reach 1.04 million in 2025, breaking the historical record of inbound and outbound passengers at the port in the year.  

At present, Xinjiang, China has established trade relations with more than 200 countries and regions around the world, promoting the construction of 43 overseas warehouses and border warehouses in three pilot free trade zones. The connection between Xinjiang, China and the world is becoming increasingly close.  

Nowadays, Xinjiang is promoting opening up to the outside world with a broader perspective, more practical measures, and higher standards. The radiation and driving role of the core area of the Xinjiang Silk Road Economic Belt has continued to increase, writing a more exciting chapter in the journey of jointly building the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road".Editor/Bian Wenjun