Modern merchants follow famous footsteps

Updated: 2014-04-11
By Cui Jia ( China Daily Africa )

Cultural leader

Further to the northwest, preparations are also underway in Gansu province, which, in addition to the potential trade benefits the economic belt will bring, is also keen to become a leader in the cultural sphere. To that end, the province is applying to launch a permanent International Culture Exhibition in Dunhuang city, which is famous for its well-preserved grottoes and frescoes, says Lian Ji, head of the provincial Publicity Department.

"The exhibition will invite other countries along the Silk Road to participate, and we hope the central government and the relevant ministries will approve the proposal soon," he says.

Zhang Shi'en, deputy head of the provincial commerce department, stressed that the province is already a well-established trade partner in the region. "Trade between Gansu and countries in central and western Asia reached $1.5 billion in 2013, an increase of almost $400 million from 2012," he says. Gansu has also established "sister" relationships with Iran's Qom province and Grodno province in Belarus.

Liu Hui, chairman of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, says the area's large Muslim population means it shares cultural ties with several countries in central Asia and the Middle East, which play crucial roles in the world's energy sector. The region is also seeking deeper international cooperation in the halal food industry, he says.

As the home of the westernmost section of the Eurasian Land Bridge at the Chinese end, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will exploit its location on the new Silk Road to become a major center for transport, finance and logistics.

In 2010, a special economic zone was established in Kashgar. It acts as a trade hub for the region and neighboring countries, including Pakistan and Kazakhstan. A twin-tower five-star hotel and duty-free shopping area is under construction in the zone.

"We cannot deny that the terrorist attacks in Kashgar have affected investor confidence to a certain degree, but when businesspeople learn about our preferential policies and understand the economic belt's potential, they will continue to invest," says Yao Wenkan, director of the zone's economic development and reform bureau.

In 2012, a free trade zone was established in the town of Horgos on the China-Kazakhstan border. It provides cross-border trade tariff exemptions for Chinese companies and duty-free shopping for visitors.

Xinjiang's two special zones are expected to play important roles within the proposed economic belt, says Mutalif Wubuli, the commissioner of Kashgar prefecture, a transcontinental hub on the ancient trade route. "The cities on the new Silk Road need to clearly position themselves and take advantage of their specialties instead of repeatedly proposing identical projects," he says.

Zhang Chunxian, Party chief of Xinjiang and a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, says the central government's policies for the economic belt will be announced soon.

The view from afar

Other countries linked to the proposed economic belt are also taking steps to make the idea become a reality.

Ramazan Kabasakal, head of foreign relations for Ankara, the capital of Turkey, says: "Xinjiang shares strong cultural, religious and cultural ties with Turkey, which makes us almost a home away from home for Xinjiang businesspeople. These ties are advantageous in terms of trade and cooperation."

Ankara was once an important stop on the ancient Silk Road and it will play the same role in the economic belt, acting as a transport hub between Europe and the East, he says.

"We mainly import construction materials and export food products from and to China. What makes us proud is that we now export high-end silk products to China, a country that was once famous for its silk," he says.

Orozbek Nusuvaliev, manager of the economic free-trade development zone in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, says the Kyrgyz government is very interested in the idea of an economic belt along the old Silk Road and is considering introducing national policies to support it.

Seyed Solat Mortazavi, the mayor of the Iranian city of Mashhad, a major oasis on the original route, says, "We have had a vision of the economic belt and now we need to define that vision.

"It will serve as a common development platform for all the cities that once prospered as a result of the free flow of people along the ancient trade route. To recapture those glory days, we will launch direct flights to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang," he says.

In addition to building closer relationships between governments, bringing people together through tourism would also be an important function of the economic belt, he says. "We will adopt preferential polices to give full support to the idea proposed by President Xi, but China and other countries need to lay out a step-by-step road map so we can follow it together."

He expressed the hope that China will impose strict rules to prevent low-quality goods from being traded within the economic belt.

Energy security

He Lunzhi, director of Xinjiang University's economic research center, says the Silk Road economic belt is not just about trade and cultural exchanges, because Central Asian markets are quite small and are still relatively underdeveloped; the bigger picture is that China needs to secure its energy supply and seek better cooperation in fighting terrorism. Central Asia - known as "the energy resource base of the 21st century, " according to He - boasts abundant natural resources.

"China needs to expand the channels and sources for oil imports because imported oil will account for 75 percent of domestic consumption by 2020," He says. "The countries on the 'new Silk Road' must work together to maintain the stability of the region and help China to combat separatist, extremist and terrorist forces," he says.

Terrorist activities in China have become more prevalent in recent years. Attacks have spread from the areas bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia and have triggered panic among the public and endangered state security, according to Wu Dongli, director of the Ministry of Public Security's border control bureau.

"China needs to strengthen international cooperation in fighting terrorism. Stronger trade and cultural relationships with other countries in the region would be hugely beneficial for those aims," he says.

Luo Wangshu, Gao Qihui, Shan Juan and Wang Huazhong contributed to this story.

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