Xinjiang's hearts, minds open up to Silk Road

"It used to take 10 to 15 days to transport goods from Horgos to Russia, but now it only takes five," he said. "Customs clearance in Kazakhstan used to take a whole day, but now it's only two hours."

When Yu, from central China's Henan Province, arrived in Horgos more than 30 years ago, he struggled to make ends meet by selling fruit on the street. Now his company exports 70,000 tonnes of produce each year to neighboring countries and has increased the incomes of 1,000 farming households across China.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a golden opportunity, a blessing for all," Yu said. "I have never seen Xinjiang safer or more flourishing than it is now."

Despite being one of the most remote and inhospitable spots on earth and the youngest city along the Silk Road, Horgos does not lack creativity. Among the city's initiatives are an economic development zone and an international cooperation center.

Established in 2010, the economic development zone ensures that companies registered there enjoy a five-year tax holiday and are exempt from local corporate tax for the subsequent five years.

The international cooperation center, straddling the China-Kazakhstan border, is the world's only cross-border free-trade zone. The movement of personnel, vehicles and goods in the zone is unrestricted, and stores and visitors pay less or no tax.

Last year, the 5.28-sq-km center welcomed over 5.5 million visitors from China and abroad, 33 times the number in 2012 when it opened, and spending hit 1.7 billion dollars, almost three times as much as in 2016.

Horgos literally means a place where caravans pass, as it used to be a trading post along the northern route of the ancient Silk Road.

In Kazakh, Horgos is known as Khorgos, a place where wealth can be accumulated. That resonates with what it is becoming today -- a regional hub of trade and commerce, a portal for China's opening-up to the west and a linchpin of the Belt and Road Initiative.