Kashi Aims to Become International Trade CenterKashi, a famous historical city on the ancient Silk Road in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has provided Chinese and foreign investors with 23 projects at the on-going Urumqi Trade Fair.The projects, involving a total investment of 600 million yuan and covering a wide range of areas including infrastructure, agriculture, environmental protection and tourism, are designed to make Kashi the central city in southern Xinjiang and a trade and commercial center in central and western Asia. Kashi, called Shule in ancient times, was the gateway and center for the transfer of goods from China to central Asia and Europe as well as a channel for cultural exchanges between the east and west. The 2,100-year-old city has recorded rapid economic growth since the New China was founded in 1949, especially since China unveiled its strategic blueprint to develop the vast western region. The city's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 10 percent to reach 1.2 billion yuan last year, and two thirds of the GDP came from the service industry. In the wake of the increased train speed on the southern Xinjiang railway line which links Kashi with Turpan and the construction of an international airport there, Kashi is expected to become a commerce and trade center in central and western Asia and a communication hub bridging the Asian continent and Europe. |
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