国内英语资讯:China Focus: Xinjiang, an emerging investment hotspot_时事

国内英语资讯:China Focus: Xinjiang, an emerging investment hotspot

Urumqi Customs saw the number of China-Europe freight trains skyrocket to 5,743 in the first 10 months this year, up 53.68 percent year on year, outnumbering the total of 2018.

To attract more investors, the local government has gone to great lengths creating a more friendly business environment, such as cutting the time required for starting a business and lowering the entry threshold for products.

Up to now, Xinjiang has had more than 1.8 million market entities including 359,000 enterprises, up 18 percent year on year.

Foreign and domestic business giants including German chemical giant BASF and China's real estate conglomerates Wanda Group have also invested in the region.

Lai Naixiang, head of Kashgar Oumeisheng Energy Technology, a home appliance manufacturer, moved his business from Shenzhen to Kashgar in southern Xinjiang in 2017.

"We chose to settle in Kashgar because of the great market potential in adjacent Central Asian countries as well as Xinjiang's lower electricity prices and preferential tax policy," he said.

Last year, the company exported electric kettles worth more than 16 million yuan to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Foreign trade in Xinjiang has seen booming growth. The region recorded around 131.5 billion yuan in imports and exports in the first 10 months of this year, up 28 percent year on year.

In the first 10 months, Kazakhstan topped the list of Xinjiang's major trade partners, with trade volume between the two growing by 28.2 percent to 60.2 billion yuan.