Opinions & Interviews

URUMQI, 27 April (BelTA) – Belarus may become “a window to Europe” for China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, BelTA learned from Wu Guangrong, Deputy Head of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) government.

The official also mentioned the importance of Belarus’ taking part in the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative. Wu Guangrong said he believes that the initiative of China President Xi Jinping has offered colossal opportunities for establishing beneficial ties between countries. Belarus is an important partner for China in this project, the official is convinced. In his words, it is good contacts and mutually beneficial arrangements at the top level that have created such a solid basis for Belarusian-China relations across the board.

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region sees great prospects for developing trade and economic ties with Belarusian regions as well as contacts in the area of logistics. XUAR is an important logistics hub in China, a crossroads of transport routes as well as an economic, financial, scientific and cultural center. The Chinese province pays close attention to the construction of modern transport routes, including rapid railways. Modern transportation solutions represent a fundamental component of the One Belt, One Road initiative. This is why China and particularly the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region pay close attention to the development of transport infrastructure that will allow establishing tighter ties between countries in the Silk Road Economic Belt, thus bolstering the exchange of commodities and services.

The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government believes that shorter transportation time is a good incentive for countries interested in increasing export and import operations. Wu Guangrong stressed that many important transport routes cross the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which is regaining its strategic influence in the region. Once the Silk Road Economic Belt is implemented, the region will regain strategic influence on the international scale. Vigorous work is now in progress to build roads, the manufacturing base, housing, and various facilities in the region.

“The Foreign Affairs Office of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government puts colossal efforts into making the region even more open to the world for the sake of mutually beneficial contacts,” stressed Wu Guangrong. He underscored the importance of Belarusian-Chinese top-level arrangements that Belarus and the government, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government are busy implementing.