All vibrant on the western front

As part of preferential policies for foreign trade enterprises in the bonded zone, the company doesn't need to pay for storing or parking cars at its warehouse, which reduces costs.

To take advantage of the new FTZ, Wei said he plans to open an exhibition hall in the bonded zone so foreign clients can choose from a wider range of vehicles. To control costs, the type and number of vehicles at its warehouse in Bishkek are limited, he said.

Bonded zones are special customs regulatory areas where goods can be stored, processed or traded without being subject to customs duties or other imposts, as a way to boost international trade.

Imports and exports via the bonded zone grew 98.1 percent year-on-year to reach 45.66 billion yuan for the period from January to November, contributing 14.2 percent to Xinjiang's trade, data from Kashgar Customs showed.

The 3.56-sq-km bonded zone, the only one of its kind in southern Xinjiang, was also included in the FTZ.

Inside the zone, there is a cross-border e-commerce exhibition and trading center covering an area of 15,000 square meters. The center has more than 3,000 zero-tariff commodities such as high-end cosmetics, wine and food from Central Asia, Europe, Southeast Asia, the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Wang Nana, an operations manager with the Cosmos Group, operator of the center, said after making an order on a cellphone customers wait about 30 minutes then they can fetch the products. "Compared with cosmetics counters, the price here is about 30 percent lower," she said.