Photo taken on Oct. 24, 2019 shows a cotton harvesting machine working in a field in Awat County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. With a long history of cotton planting, Awat is known as the "Town of Cotton" in China. The county boasts high-quality cotton and high-efficiency in production. (Xinhua/Sadat)

As the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is taking advantage of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) to boost its local economic development and foreign trade, officials and business representatives said on Wednesday.

The CIIE will not only provide a platform for overseas companies and products, including those in the Eurasian region, to enter the Chinese market, but will also give Eurasian companies a better understanding of Xinjiang, Liu Xuesong, deputy director of the Department of Eurasia Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, said at a signing ceremony of Xinjiang-themed projects during the CIIE in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Xinjiang authorities and companies inked a series of key cooperation agreements with foreign and domestic businesses on Wednesday, covering issues ranging from the establishment of the China-Russia International Chamber of Commerce to the opening of 200 Russian supermarkets in Xinjiang.

Specifically, Beijing Fengxiang will offer supply-chain financial services to Xinjiang International Land Port Group, according to their agreement on Wednesday.

"Over the past two years, we have already been offering financial services to three large-scale, Xinjiang-based companies including Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co. Now we have our fourth client in Xinjiang," Hu Junliang, business representative from Beijing Fengxiang's Xinjiang branch, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Foreign businesses are also satisfied with their new orders from this region. Irakli Bokuchava, a business representative from JSC Telliani Valley, a winery company from Georgia, told the Global Times on Wednesday that his firm had just signed an agreement with a Xinjiang-based e-commerce platform, which allows them to sell 3 million yuan ($428,600) worth of wine.

The signing ceremony has attracted the interest of many private Xinjiang companies, who are looking forward to business opportunities brought about by such major cooperation projects.

"I came here to have a look as I'm sure that there are some projects we're interested in," Yu Chengzhong, chairman of the board of directors of Khorgos Jinyi International Trade Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"I'm in the trade business. I'd like to see if there are any potential products for my business at the CIIE," Li Dongfeng, general manager of Khorgos Golden Eagle Plaza, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative and other favorable policies, Xinjiang is currently on a fast track to becoming an important node in China's industrial value chain. 

"I do feel that there has been a rising trend in Xinjiang's industrial development in recent years," Hu noted, adding that as industries begin to form in Xinjiang, there will be lots potential to be tapped.

In the first three quarters of 2019, Xinjiang's GDP totaled 912.7 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, according to data from the Xinjiang regional government.


Newspaper headline: Xinjiang business group craves cooperation deals