ByGuSiyuSincethe18thCPCNationalCongress,XinjianghasfullyleverageditsadvantagesofbeinglocatedinthehinterlandofEurasiathatconnectstwolargemarkets,andsparednoeffortstobuilditselfintoacoreareaofthe“SilkRoadEconomicBelt”.BystrengtheningitseconomictieswithneighboringcountriesandotherChineseprovinces,Xinjianghasevolvedfromalandlockedregionintoahighlandofgreateropenness.Overthepast10years,foreigntradeinXinjianghasbeenexpandingwithanoptimizedstructure.AccordingtotheBureauofStatisticsofXinjiangUygurAutonomousRegion,in2021,Xinjiang’stotalimportandexportofgoodsamountedto$24.298billion,anincreaseof13.7%overthepreviousyear.ThesurplusoftradeingoodshitUS$15.125billion,anincreaseof$4.84billionoverthepreviousyear.Xinjiang’sforeigntradeisshowingamomentumofrapidandsteadygrowth.Xinjiangistradingwithadiverserangeofcountries.In2021,Xinjiangestablishedeconomicandtraderelationswith176countriesandregions,tradewithKyrgyzstan,KazakhstanandTajikistan,itstopthreetradingpartners,reached$10.535billion,$5.465billionand$981millionrespectively.Withcontinuousreformofforeigntradesystemcomesever-increasingnumberofbusinessentitiesyearbyyear.From2012to2021,theshareofforeigntradedonebyprivateenterprisesinXinjianggrewfrom70.6%to86.3%,makingtheprivatesectorasignificantcontributortotradeexpansion,jobgrowthandtaxrevenueincreaseinXinjiang.Steadyprogresshasbeenmadeininternationalcooperation.Overthepast10years,Xinjianghasdeepenedreformandopening-up,andadvancedtheconstructionofthecoreareaofthe“SilkRoadEconomicBelt”,furtherwideningopenness.Xinjianghasalsostrengthenedeconomicandtradeexchangesandcooperationwith“BeltandRoad”countries,signing21cooperationagreementswith25countriesandinternationalorganizations,andconcluding45pairsofsistercities–the“friendscircle”ofXinjianghasneverbeengreater.Atthesametime,Xinjianghascontinuedtoimproveconnectivitywithcountriesalongthe“SilkRoadEconomicBelt”,opening118bilateraltransportroads,accountingforone-thirdofChina’stotal.AllsectionsoftheXinjiang-Europehighwayhavebecomeoperational,thesecondrailwaytoKazakhstanwasalsoopened,atotalof26cross-borderfiber-opticcablesweredeployed,andthe“5-in-1”networkofroads,railways,flights,pipelines,andtelecommunicationshasbasicallytakenshape.Uptonow,Xinjiang’srailwaymileagehashit8,768km,totalroadmileagehasreached217,300km,andallprefecturesandcitiesinXinjianghavehighwayaccess.Theregionalsoboasts24airports,rankingfirstnationwide.Xinjianghasdispatchedaltogether6,242China-EuropefreighttrainstoCentralAsiaandEurope,withanaverageannualgrowthof55.1%overthepastdecade.Editor:ZhangZhouDisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.