Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Chen Qiangwei, Lu Fengbao) news: On August 17, 2023, when reporters met Turlebek Ayjan Kayarbek from Kazakhstan at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, she was selecting goods.

Ayjan, who is wearing a white shirt and black-framed glasses, looks younger than her actual age. She doesn't seem to be 29 years old at all, and she has married and had children with a young man from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Yiwu.

Photo taken on August 17, 2023 shows Turlebek Ayjan Kayarbek selects goods at the Yiwu International Trade Market in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Chen Qiangwei)

When it comes to the fate with China, Ayjan lengthened her tone and said, "This is a very long story." Her clear enunciation and accurate pronunciation make it hard to believe that she couldn't speak Mandarin when she came to Yiwu in 2018.

Ayjan's earliest impression of China came from Xinjiang, the province of China that is the closest to Kazakhstan, and also where her mother import goods supply for her business.

"I went to Urumqi City twice with my mother to buy goods at wholesale price when I was in my teens," Ayjan said. She remembered that the commercial market of Urumqi Bianjiang Hotel was big and bustling, with a wide variety of goods. Unexpectedly, after more than a decade, Ayjan came to Yiwu, known as the “world's supermarket”, and started her own business here.

More than a decade ago, Ayjan's mother got to know China through Xinjiang, where she wholesaled goods in the way of traditional border trade. Ten years after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, Ayjan is doing logistics transportation for cross-border online sellers in Yiwu, delivering Chinese goods to Kazakhstan consumers through ports in Xinjiang.

Over the past decade, there have been significant changes in the way that Ayjan and her mother conduct business with China, but one thing that remains unchanged is the close economic and cultural exchange between China and Kazakhstan.

Ayjan knew the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China. "Kazakhstan implemented the new economic policy of ‘Bright Road’ in 2014." Ayjan said that the new economic policy of "Bright Road" successfully docked the Belt and Road Initiative, which enabled China and Kazakhstan to reach a consensus on strengthening bilateral economic cooperation.

Ayjan's family has also had more interactions with China. In 2018, Ayjan's aunt was running a clothing wholesale business in Yiwu and was in need of extra help due to the great demand. And Ayjan, having graduated from university not long ago, came to Yiwu. "When I first arrived at the Yiwu International Trade Market, I kept saying how big it was." Ayjan laughed as she reminisced.

Ayjan's friends knew that she was in China and always asked her to help purchase them stuff. "My friends really like cosmetics, bags, and other goods," Ayjan said. Seeing how popular the Chinese products she brought to her friends were, she had the idea of starting her own business.

In 2022, after working in the foreign trade industry for four years, Ayjan established her own company and had a warehouse in Yiwu that covers over 100 square meters. She is busy every day. The e-commerce business in Kazakhstan is growing very rapidly, and she often stays up late in the warehouse.

“Express delivery companies have strict requirements on the delivery time of logistics. I must deliver Chinese goods to consumers in Kazakhstan within 15 days," said Ayjan. These express packages are all transported by road and exported from ports in Xinjiang.

The busy scene is not only in Ayjan's warehouse, but also in the ports, such as Alataw Pass and Horgos Port in Xinjiang where these cross-border e-commerce packages pass through. The Horgos Highway Port began trialing 24-hour freight clearance since August, 2023, becoming the first 24-hour freight clearance highway port in Xinjiang.

The story of Ayjan and China has not yet ended, and a new chapter has begun with the further materialization of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ayjan's sister learned milk tea making techniques in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, opened a Chinese milk tea shop in Astana, Kazakhstan, in May this year, and imported raw materials from China. After its opening, Chinese milk tea is well received by consumers in Kazakhstan, and the business is booming.

The story of Ayjan's family is a vivid embodiment of the Belt and Road Initiative benefiting the people along the Belt and Road.

“The current warehouse needs expansion, and I plan to rent a warehouse of more than 300 square meters next year,” Ayjan said with full hope.

Ayjan is very satisfied with her life in Yiwu. She believes that there will be promising prospects for cross-border e-commerce express delivery transportation between China and Kazakhstan in the future.

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