Since its establishment two years ago, the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone has achieved rapid growth in trade volume and industrial agglomeration, creating a new highland for opening up to the outside world
As early as a thousand years ago, this Gobi Desert was connected by the sound of camel bells; From ancient trade routes to open frontiers - the lingering sound of camel bells still lingers, but the functionality of the passage has been revitalized.
On November 1, 2023, China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the first pilot free trade zone set up in the northwest border area of China, was officially established, covering Urumqi, Kashgar and Khorgos.
Since the establishment of the Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, the import and export trade volume of Xinjiang has grown at an average annual rate of 20% to 30%, consistently ranking among the top in the country in terms of growth rate. A new Silk Road with industrial agglomeration, efficient logistics, and institutional innovation is extending deep into the Gobi Desert.
Convenient and efficient, bringing development opportunities
In the first ten days of August, Kangchen Pharmaceutical (Khorgos) Co., Ltd. applied to the local market supervision department for the "three in one" joint review of the Phase II plant. The whole process was completed in less than 10 days, and the plant was put into production successfully at the end of the month. Previously, such procedures required two months, but now they are being put into production ahead of schedule, reducing labor, time, and material costs by 60% and saving over a million yuan in expenses, "said Guo Lei, the deputy general manager of the company.
Taking the opportunity of the delegation of approval authority at the autonomous region level, Khorgos Region initiated the "three in one" joint review mechanism for pharmaceutical enterprises, and merged license change, GMP inspection and registration filing into "one inspection" to achieve "joint issuance of multiple licenses". The market supervision department takes the initiative to provide advanced services, deeply participates in the planning and construction of enterprise production lines, and provides full guidance on material preparation and process handling.
In the workshop of Kashgar Kangyi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., after assembling one LCD display after another, it is directly sent to Central Asia, South Asia and other places. The Kashgar area has efficient approval and outstanding geographical advantages, "said Xie Yu, assistant general manager of the company." Previously, products exported from Zhejiang to Central Asia needed to be transported over 4000 kilometers, but now the shortest distance from Kashgar is only 600 kilometers, shortening the delivery time and significantly reducing costs
Convenient and efficient, bringing development opportunities. Data shows that in the first eight months of this year, 6663 new enterprises were established in the district, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Since its listing, more than 17000 new enterprises have been established, contributing one-third of the newly added foreign-funded enterprises in Xinjiang, nearly half of the contracted foreign-funded scale, about one-third of the outward investment, and more than 2/5 of the foreign trade import and export volume.
Smooth logistics and thriving development of foreign trade
The traffic flow at Khorgos Highway Port is endless, and vehicles "made in China" loaded with new energy vehicles, agricultural machinery, fan blades and other vehicles drive out of the country in an orderly manner. Vehicles with QR codes can pass through smart checkpoints and be automatically recognized by cameras for quick clearance. This is the first "self driving export commodity vehicle fast clearance mode" by Urumqi Customs. Since the operation of this mode, the overall clearance efficiency of the port has increased by 80%. In the first eight months of this year, 258000 cars were exported at Khorgos Port, up 8.5% year on year.
At the warehouse of Jinyi International Trade Co., Ltd., fruit and vegetable loading operations are carried out day and night. Now we implement a 7 × 24-hour customs clearance system, combined with a 'green channel' for agricultural and sideline products. The goods loaded in the morning can be delivered to the market in Kazakhstan in the afternoon, "said Yu Huan, the general manager of the company.
Li Hongfeng, Deputy Director of Khorgos Customs, introduced that the "highway port+direct access to territory" mode reduced the import customs clearance links from 9 to 4, and the export links from 12 to 4. The clearance time of vehicles in the territory is shortened from 2 days to 2 hours, and that of local vehicles in Khorgos is shortened from 6 hours to 1 hour.
On the former Gobi Desert, modern industrial parks have sprung up, attracting industrial clusters such as commercial logistics and equipment manufacturing to land. In 2024, the gross domestic product of Khorgos region will reach 20.2 billion yuan.
Relying on the increasingly smooth international logistics channels, Xinjiang's foreign trade is flourishing. In the first eight months of this year, the total import and export value of Xinjiang's foreign trade was 356.31 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%.
Institutional innovation to enhance the level of openness
By exploring new ideas and taking on responsibilities, Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone continues to promote institutional innovation.
Kashgar Economic Development Zone innovatively establishes the "Two Countries, Two Parks" model, jointly builds industrial parks with neighboring countries, and builds a cooperation platform for industrial complementarity, facility interconnection, and policy reciprocity.
Kyrgyzstan Postal Corporation is one of the first companies to settle in. Kashgar Economic Development Zone provides free factory buildings and relies on "one-stop" loading and unloading services to achieve "warehouse to warehouse direct" cross-border logistics between China and Kyrgyzstan, increasing logistics turnover efficiency by 50%.
In November last year, the Urumqi area launched aircraft bonded maintenance and public bonded warehouse business, further enhancing the international competitiveness of China's civil aviation maintenance industry. In January of this year, China Southern Airlines Engineering and Technology Xinjiang Base successfully completed the troubleshooting task of a cargo plane operated by Camakos Airlines, which was the first maintenance order since the launch of the business. The import and export procedures for aviation materials are simplified, and the supply is faster, "said Xu Yonggang, the business manager of the base.
Since its establishment, Xinjiang Pilot Free Trade Zone has introduced 54 supportive policies and delegated 45 economic and social management powers to the autonomous region level.
From camel bells to sirens, from post stations to digital ports, the wind on the Gobi Desert is carrying a new Silk Road story further away.