Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Hei Hongwei) news: In the first three quarters, Xinjiang's total import and export value of foreign trade reached 393.14 billion yuan (about 55.38 U.S. dollars), hitting a record high for the same period in history, with a year-on-year increase of 22.1 percent. This growth rate is 18.1 percentage points higher than the overall national growth rate, demonstrating Xinjiang's strong development resilience as the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

"In the first three quarters, Xinjiang's foreign trade maintained a steady and positive development trend. The vitality of foreign trade enterprises was rapidly unleashed, the proportion of private enterprises continued to rise, and the coverage of trading partners kept expanding," said Li Qinghua, a member of the Party Committee and deputy commissioner of Urumqi Customs.

"Railways, highways, and airports" weave a new artery for Eurasian logistics

As the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Xinjiang's cross-border transportation capacity directly determines the speed of its foreign trade development.

Since the beginning of this year, Urumqi Customs has taken smart reforms as a focal point, continuously addressing bottlenecks in the three major transportation channels of railways, highways, and aviation. This has transformed the westward logistics corridors from merely being accessible to being fast and efficient.

In the first three quarters of this year, the freight volume at Xinjiang's railway ports reached 22.769 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 11.6 percent, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the total land transportation import and export volume in Xinjiang. The number of China-Europe (Central Asia) freight trains passing through the two ports in Xinjiang has exceeded 100,000, accounting for more than half of the national total. The Horgos Port has even become the largest land port for the export of commercial vehicles in the country, with a cumulative export of over 300,000 commercial vehicles this year.

Photo taken on October 6, 2025 shows a staff drives a reach stacker to load containers at the freight yard of the Alashankou Railway Port in Alashankou City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Zheng Xin)

The data serves as compelling evidence of the effectiveness of the reforms.

The "Smart Railway Port + Local Rapid Customs Clearance" model has been fully implemented, enabling the advance transmission of manifests and the early declaration of customs declarations during the import process. Currently, the proportion of advance manifest transmission has reached 79 percent, with manifests being transmitted in an average of 3.71 hours and customs declarations being filed in 1.79 hours before the train's arrival at the border. This convenience has been enjoyed by 70 percent of the import businesses at railway ports.

In the export process, intelligent gateways automatically trigger control instructions, reducing the number of short-distance transfers of goods. As a result, the logistics cost per vehicle for enterprises has decreased by 67 percent. Coupled with the application of the nation's first "Smart Inspection Platform for Full Instructions on Imported Railway Minerals," the customs clearance time for imported iron ore has been reduced by more than 8 hours, achieving a breakthrough from nighttime interruptions to 24/7 online availability.

Highway and airport ports have also simultaneously enhanced efficiency. The reform of "highway port + direct local clearance" covers all eight highway ports across Xinjiang. Seven highway ports between China and Kazakhstan, as well as China and Kyrgyzstan, have fully implemented the green customs lock program, reducing export customs clearance time from the original five days to just one day. The proportion of cargo volume handled by highway ports has increased from 13 percent to 20 percent. In the aviation sector, innovative reforms such as bonded aviation fuel supply and aviation bonded maintenance have been introduced. The exported bonded aviation fuel under supervision has exceeded 110,000 tons, reducing aviation fuel costs by 13 percent and driving a staggering 104.8 percent year-on-year increase in the cargo volume at airport ports in the first three quarters.

Bai Yicheng, deputy director of the Port Supervision Division at Urumqi Customs, stated that they would aim for safety, convenience, efficiency, and intelligence, and strive to deepen, solidify, refine, and optimize the reforms, making new and greater contributions to facilitating the smooth flow of the national westward logistics corridor.

From growth in volume to excellence in quality: Unleashing new market vitality

In Xinjiang's foreign trade landscape, private enterprises are no longer mere supporting actors but have emerged as the mainstay, accounting for 93.5 percent of the total import and export volume.

In the first three quarters of this year, Urumqi Customs has further unleashed the potential of private enterprises by deepening customs clearance reforms and optimizing regulatory services, driving them to achieve dual breakthroughs in both scale expansion and structural upgrading.

In terms of quantity, the foundation of private enterprises remains solid. During the first three quarters, the number of foreign trade enterprises in Xinjiang with actual import and export performance reached 3,791, a year-on-year increase of 23.7 percent. Among them, 3,629 were private enterprises, accounting for over 95 percent. The import and export value of private enterprises reached 367.39 billion yuan (about 51.78 billion U.S. dollars), up 23.4 percent year-on-year, contributing 98 percent to the growth of foreign trade. Moreover, they have maintained year-on-year growth for four consecutive quarters, serving as a ballast for stabilizing the overall foreign trade situation.

"The sustained growth of private sector has injected core and stable momentum into Xinjiang's foreign trade," said Chen Guoliang, the head of the Statistical Analysis Division at Urumqi Customs.

In terms of capability, the overseas reach of private enterprises in Xinjiang, China, continues to expand. Leveraging their advantages of flexibility and strong adaptability, Xinjiang's private enterprises have not only consolidated their traditional markets in Central Asia but also accelerated their expansion into emerging markets: imports and exports to Africa surged by 151 percent, to the Middle East by 92.7 percent, and to Latin America by 94.3 percent. They have achieved positive growth with 173 countries and regions worldwide, presenting a vibrant scene of countless private enterprises venturing out into the world.

In terms of quality, the value of products from private enterprises has significantly improved. In the first three quarters, private enterprises exported mechanical and electrical products worth 133.53 billion yuan (about 18.82 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 41.4 percent. The "new three" products, representing green technology, performed outstandingly, with electric vehicle exports surging by 73.4 percent. Traditional agricultural product exports also maintained a 28.8 percent growth, achieving a dual drive in both high-end, sophisticated, and innovative sectors and traditional industries.

Institutional innovation forges new horizons for open development

The open platform centered around the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone serves as a pivotal vehicle for the quality upgrading and transformation of Xinjiang's foreign trade.

Since the beginning of this year, Urumqi Customs has focused on institutional innovation, driving collaborative efforts among platforms such as the pilot free trade zones, comprehensive bonded zones, and the International Health Land Port, thereby expanding new frontiers for foreign trade development.

Throughout this year, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone has continued to demonstrate its role as a testing ground. As a key participant in the construction of the pilot free trade zone, Urumqi Customs has seen 14 out of its 22 pilot reform tasks come to fruition, achieving a completion rate of 63 percent. Two initiatives, namely the Fast Customs Clearance Model for Self-Driven Export Commercial Vehicles and the New Classification-Based Quarantine and Supervision Model for Designated Processing Enterprises of Imported Grains," have been approved by the General Administration of Customs for record-keeping. Additionally, Urumqi Customs has recommended three institutional innovation achievements to the Ministry of Commerce and submitted 11 provincial-level achievements to related departments at the government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

File photo shows vehicles queue up to for customs clearance procedures at the Horgos Comprehensive Bonded Zone in Horgos City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The benefits of institutional innovation have been directly transformed into development momentum. In the first three quarters, the import and export value of the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone reached 155.34 billion yuan (about 21.90 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 39.5 percent of the total foreign trade value of Xinjiang.

A synergistic effect has been formed between the Comprehensive Bonded Zones and the International Health Land Port. The import and export value of the four comprehensive bonded zones in Kashi, Horgos, and other locations reached 96.11 billion yuan (about 13.55 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters, accounting for 34.2 percent of Xinjiang's total foreign trade. As one of the first batch in the country and the first in northwest China to be designated as an "International Health Land Port," the Horgos Highway Port has achieved three-minute fast customs clearance for cross-border medical assistance. This not only strengthens the public health security defense line at the national border but also provides a higher-quality environment for cross-border trade.

Intellectual property protection and digital platforms are safeguarding industries. Urumqi Customs has carried out the "Dragon Rising Action" for nine consecutive years, seizing 130 batches of suspected infringing goods in the first three quarters and safeguarding the rights and interests of over 200 right holders. Through technologies such as "intelligent trademark recognition" and "intelligent image review," it has facilitated the shift from examination during customs clearance to confirmation before declaration for intellectual property, thereby enhancing customs clearance speed. Additionally, the "China-Central Asia Import Commodity Regulations and Standards Inquiry and Analysis Platform" has been established, providing digital support for enterprises and continuously optimizing a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment.

Li Qinghua, a member of Urumqi Customs Party Committee and deputy director-general of Urumqi Customs, stated that Xinjiang, leveraging its geographical advantages of connecting the East and reaching the West, the combined effect release of policy dividends, and the sustained vigor of reform, has achieved steady and sustained economic open development. In the future, Urumqi Customs will continue to provide better services to support enterprises and inject stronger impetus into the high-quality development of Xinjiang's foreign trade.

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