The railway port of Horgos in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which borders Kazakhstan, was officially opened Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday. 

With financial backing of 1.9 billion yuan (289 million U.S. dollars), the first stage of construction on the 90,000-square-meter port station has been completed, said Bai Yongfeng, director of the port station. 

Horgos railway port began a restricted-operating period in 2012, now that it is fully open, the port expects a surge in cargo flow. 

From December 2012, when a cross-border railway between China and Kazakhstan via Horgos opened, until April 2016, the import and export trade volume via the railway port of Horgos totaled 4 billion U.S. dollars. 

A passenger train route from Horgos to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, had transported 200,000 passengers as of May 2016 since it opened at the end of 2013. 

The increased cargo and passenger flow through Horgos will play a positive role in trade relations between China and Central Asia, West Asia, and Europe, according to Bai.