Xinijiang expo exhibits Silk Road leadership

As the 5th China-Eurasia Expo is set to kick off in September in Urumqi, the strategic importance of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as a core area for China's Silk Road Economic Belt continues to rise. During the expo from September 20 to 25, Chinese leaders, foreign envoys of Asian and European countries, specialized agencies, business leaders and heads of international organizations will be invited to attend both the expo's opening ceremony and the China-Eurasia Economic Development Cooperation Forum, Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang's chairman, told a news conference on Wednesday in Beijing. Six other ministerial-level forums will also be held during the expo, including the China-Eurasian Forum on Cooperation in Entry-Exit Health Quarantine at Ports, the Financial Cooperation Forum, the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Forum and the Forum on Development of Overseas Chinese Businesses and Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The expo will be divided into 14 sections to better meet the needs of domestic and foreign enterprises attending the event. Shi Dagang, vice chairman of Xinjiang, said at the press conference that despite the fact that the exhibition space's total area will be doubled this year, it is still unable to fully meet the demand. Xinjiang has its eyes set on playing a greater role in China's Belt and Road initiative, as the region borders eight countries in Central Asia. Its status as a transportation hub will be further strengthened with the upcoming completion of the China-Pakistan railway and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. According to Zakir, Xinjiang plans to become a regional center for transportation, logistics, medical services, finance and culture in addition to science and education. He said by the middle of this century, Xinjiang plans to establish itself as a base for oil and gas production, processing and storage, coal power and wind and solar energy. The region also intends to construct 10 import and export industrial parks for fields such as machinery and equipment, textiles, building materials, chemical products, information services and animal husbandry products. These industries will also be featured at the expo. Since its establishment in 2011, the China-Eurasia Expo has witnessed the signing of agreements worth a total of 900 billion yuan ($136.7 billion). In 2015 alone, 149 projects worth 129 billion yuan were inked during the expo. Tong Daochi, an assistant commerce minister, said at the Wednesday press conference that direct investment in countries related to the Belt and Road initiative reached $14.8 billion in 2015, an increase of 18.2 percent over the previous year.