Xinjiang business group craves cooperation deals

As the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is taking advantage of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) to boost its local economic development and foreign trade, officials and business representatives said on Wednesday.

The CIIE will not only provide a platform for overseas companies and products, including those in the Eurasian region, to enter the Chinese market, but will also give Eurasian companies a better understanding of Xinjiang, Liu Xuesong, deputy director of the Department of Eurasia Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce, said at a signing ceremony of Xinjiang-themed projects during the CIIE in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Xinjiang authorities and companies inked a series of key cooperation agreements with foreign and domestic businesses on Wednesday, covering issues ranging from the establishment of the China-Russia International Chamber of Commerce to the opening of 200 Russian supermarkets in Xinjiang.

Specifically, Beijing Fengxiang will offer supplychain financial services to Xinjiang International Land Port Group, according to their agreement on Wednesday.

Foreign businesses are also satisfied with their new orders from this region. Irakli Bokuchava, a business representative from JSC Telliani Valley, a winery company from Georgia, told the Global Times on Wednesday that his firm had just signed an agreement with a Xinjiang-based e-commerce platform, which allows them to sell 3 million yuan ($428,600) worth of wine.

The signing ceremony has attracted the interest of many private Xinjiang companies, who are looking forward to business opportunities brought about by such major cooperation projects.