Pilot free trade zone invigorates foreign trade in northwest Chinese city

URUMQI, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Jiang Zhidong runs a foreign trade company in Kashgar City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Last year, his company imported over 4,300 tonnes of coal from Kyrgyzstan. However, within the first month of the new year, the company's coal imports had already exceeded 4,000 tonnes.

Jiang attributed this leap to the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the first in China's northwestern border regions. Officially established in November 2023 and covering approximately 180 square km, the FTZ comprises three iconic areas in Urumqi, Kashgar and Horgos.

According to the regional department of commerce, the pilot FTZ has attracted more than 2,000 new business entities in just over two months of its opening, including some influential domestic and foreign enterprises.

Jiang's company is one of the first businesses to establish its presence in the FTZ Kashgar area. He's planning to import more coal and build a new factory within this area for processing and washing of coal.

Kashgar City has actively utilized both domestic and international markets and resources to further promote the pilot FTZ development. Towards the end of last year, the city launched its first "overseas warehouse" in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, marking the FTZ Kashgar area's first overseas investment.

The warehouse has functions such as storing and circulation processing overseas goods, and it has its exclusive railway route and customs clearance and inspection facilities.

"After customs clearance, Chinese goods passing through here can be transported to Kazakhstan and European countries," said Muhtar Hiyit, chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce of Kashgar City.

Lyu Sheng, manager of an international supply chain company that has set up an export transit base in the FTZ Kashgar area, said: "Last year, we exported over 3,000 domestically produced vehicles to Russia and Central Asian countries through this base, with more than 70 percent being new energy vehicles."

He added that the company also expects to see vehicle exports to these countries exceed 10,000 in 2024.

Kashgar has so far opened cargo charter flights to Moscow and Cologne. In the future, the city also plans to open cargo routes to several Central Asian cities.

According to statistics from Kashgar Customs, the total foreign trade volume of Kashgar Prefecture, where Kashgar City is located, reached 83.68 billion yuan (about 11.78 billion U.S. dollars) last year, representing a year-on-year growth of 71.2 percent and accounting for 23.4 percent of Xinjiang's total foreign trade volume.