Flower exports bloom in NW China's Xinjiang as Central Asia demand grows

Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter: Gao Zebin, Correspondents: Songhula Shabuerjiang and Feng Qiheng) news: On the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, the August sun shines bright. At the national-level seedling and flower market in Hutubi County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the 12th Xinjiang Seedling and Flower Expo had recently wrapped up. But the dewdrops still glistening on the cut roses on display, and the purchase orders signed between local flower growers and buyers from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and other Central Asian countries, all spoke to the growing vitality of Xinjiang's flower industry.

This vitality is just one sign of a broader transformation. Xinjiang was once seen mainly as a final destination for cut flowers. Today, it is emerging as a starting point for flower exports. Figures from the Ministry of Commerce tell the story: in the first quarter of 2026, Xinjiang's flower exports reached 3.34 million U.S. dollars, up 72.8 percent year on year.

Fresh flowers on the move

Some 500 kilometers to the west, in Horgos, the pulse of the market beats in a more direct way.

At the Qingquan Flower and Seedling Industrial Park, the air is thick with the scent of roses. Workers move quickly through the greenhouses, cutting fresh roses, stripping excess leaves, bundling them by grade, and rushing them into cold storage.

On May 11, 2026, 120,000 premium cut flowers made their final journey from the park, loaded onto refrigerated trucks and shipped through the Horgos land port to Kazakhstan. It was the first large-scale export of locally grown cut flowers from Horgos, a real step forward for the region's flower industry.

"Before, our flowers only went as far as Urumqi. Now we're dealing directly with Central Asian buyers," said Huang Qun, who runs the flower base at the park. The greenhouses grow seven rose varieties, including Aisha, Freud, and Cappuccino, and several have drawn strong interest from buyers. With orders already coming in from Central Asia, the park is looking to add higher-value varieties like hydrangeas and peonies.

Fresh flowers don't wait. Demand for quality cut flowers has been rising across Central Asia, yet cut flowers are highly perishable, subject to tight delivery deadlines and rigorous cross-border inspections.

To keep things moving, Horgos Customs has rolled out a streamlined clearance model that combines port-of-entry processing with 24/7 appointment-based checks, paperless certification, and non-intrusive scanning.

The result is that clearance times have been cut by more than half. In the first seven months of this year, over 10,000 tons of cut flowers passed through Horgos, a 93.7 percent jump from the same period last year. For these flowers, freshness isn't just about cold storage; it's about speed at the border.

Workers harvest flowers at the Qingquan Flower and Seedling Industrial Park in Horgos City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by the Media Convergence Center of Horgos City/Feng Qiheng)

From transit hub to trading floor

If Horgos is the front line of the flower export push, Urumqi is the hub. It offers not just westward routes, but a platform that pools resources from across China.

On August 24, Jinning District in Kunming and Xinjiang Bianjiang Hotel Co., Ltd. reached a cooperation agreement. The country's main flower-producing region and the Central Asian market were linked through Xinjiang's transport network.

Shortly before that, a Yunnan-themed pavilion opened at Bianjiang Hotel, featuring a remote flower auction center. Buyers in Urumqi can now bid in real time at the Kunming International Flower Auction Center without traveling to Yunnan. Flowers bought can be delivered directly in Xinjiang and shipped onward to Central Asia.

Being closer to the port and closer to buyers means less loss. Li Qin, deputy general manager of Yunnan Aibida Horticultural Technology Co., Ltd., did the math. For cut flowers from Yunnan to Russia, overland shipping takes about 14 days. But if routed through Xinjiang, the total time can be cut by about one-third.

Li said his company was drawn by Xinjiang's location and its abundant solar and green energy resources. Aibida plans to build a demonstration zone for flower exports to Central Asia in Hutubi County, covering 652.38 mu (about 43.7 hectares), with greenhouses, a breeding center, and a testing center. Once fully operational, the project is expected to generate annual revenue of 69.6 million yuan (about 9.6 million U.S. dollars), create nearly 500 jobs, and produce 50 to 100 million roses a year.

The "Xinmaotong" platform under Bianjiang Hotel has taken market-procurement trade facilitation to the next level. Since its launch in 2023, the platform has registered 882 businesses and merchants, with exports exceeding 3.43 billion yuan (about 474 million U.S. dollars). It offers one-stop services for customs clearance, tax, foreign exchange, and logistics for flower and other agricultural exports.

"With the local exhibition and sales window in Xinjiang, we can buy flowers without traveling all the way to Kunming," said Zaukhar Baltabayeva, a Kazakh trader with over 20 years in the flower business. "It cuts logistics time and costs."

A flower giveaway during a quiz draws a crowd of visitors at the central stage of the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on August 7, 2026. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Li Rui)

A growing source of flowers

The strength of Xinjiang's flower exports lies not only in the channels and platforms, but also in the region's growing production capacity. Abundant sunlight gives greenhouse flower farming a natural edge, while green electricity makes smart greenhouse operations more cost-competitive. From the northern slopes of the Tianshan to the oases of the south, facility agriculture is bringing new color to the land.

In Altay City, at the modern agriculture expo park, 100,000 rose seedlings planted in May are thriving in smart greenhouses. Despite the harsh winter cold and summer dryness, the park uses integrated water and fertilizer systems to tackle salinity, humidifiers to adjust moisture, and heating systems for winter, ensuring stable production year-round. Wang Xinquan, the park's technical director, said varieties like Highland Red and Aisha are of excellent quality because they reach local florists shortly after harvest. The roses are due for bulk harvest in late October, and the park is already exploring cross-border sales to Central Asia.

In southern Xinjiang, the flower base in Duolaitebage Township, Kashi City, tells a different story. Its greenhouses are now fully equipped with smart management systems, and the number of varieties grown has grown from 30 to over 400. The township has linked seedling cultivation, planting, and online and offline sales through a dedicated flower market. In 2025, the township's flower industry generated over 40 million yuan (about 5.5 million U.S. dollars) in annual output value.

Nearby farmers have also joined the flower economy. Yunus Mamat, a local villager, joined a company-plus-farmer cooperative and now grows 15 varieties including bougainvillea and roses, earning over 90,000 yuan (about 12,400 U.S. dollars) a year. "Lots of customers, great business," he said with a broad smile. That, for a farmer, is the simplest measure of success.

A worker removes lateral buds and excess flower buds at a modern agricultural expo park in Altay City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on August 27, 2026. (Photo by the Media Convergence Center of Altay City/Songhula Shabuerjiang)

A Silk Road of flowers grows wider

As dusk settles, the bustle at the flower market in Hutubi fades. But a new chapter for Xinjiang's flower industry is just beginning.

In the Horgos greenhouses, a new batch of roses is budding, waiting for its journey across the border. In Urumqi, the auction screens keep flashing, connecting Kunming with households across Central Asia. And in the fields of Altay and Kashi, farmers trim their branches, planting their hopes for a better life along with the flowers.

From buying flowers to selling them, from a transit point to a starting point, this is more than a shift in trade flows. It is a reshaping of the region's flower industry logic.

As refrigerated trucks laden with fragrance roll westward along the ancient Silk Road, what we see is more than just bright petals. It is a picture of an inland frontier transforming into a gateway of openness. This westward-bound flower is blooming in the heart of the Eurasian continent, carried forward by the winds of a new era.

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