All vibrant on the western front

Cargo growth

Irkeshtam Customs data showed that cargo passing through the port grew 101 percent year-on-year to reach 1.16 million tons from January to November. It is the first time imports and exports have surpassed 1 million tons since the port was established in 2002.

In November 2011, some of the port's functions were moved 145 km to Wuqia county to improve efficiency as the volume of cargo and passengers increased. Now, trucks entering China complete inspection at the original location, while those leaving China use the new location.

The older port added a new lane in September and adopted intelligent equipment for inspections. It now takes only 3 minutes to inspect a truck, compared with 15 to 20 minutes when done by inspection officers, said Zhang Zhixin, director of the management and service center of the port's management committee.

The port has also extended the number and length of working days and established an industrial park to develop industries based on the port's economy. A total of 59 foreign trade companies have settled in the park, and are involved in sectors such as automobile assembly, processing of agricultural products, logistics and storage as well as cross-border e-commerce.

Xinjiang Congling International Trade has 100,000 square meters of warehouse space at the park to store daily goods, building materials and machinery. After moving from the original port location, the amount of goods it stores has increased tenfold to reach 25,000 tons a month, said General Manager Zhao Yi.

Compared with 10 years ago, there has been a significant improvement in the infrastructure and business environment, he said.

"Previously, the space was small and the volume was limited. Government departments also provided nanny-like services. Now many domestic companies have settled in the park and foreign companies come to purchase goods and export them. So the number of our customers has increased too," he said.

An electronic logistics system is used by customs to process the goods when they arrive. The agent makes a declaration to customs, which will automatically do a selective examination. When cleared, the goods can be shipped the next day.

"Customers demand fast delivery. If goods cannot be shipped quickly, businesses lose confidence. As the business environment keeps improving and many preferential policies have been introduced, it will greatly enhance future trade, and we are confident about this," he said.

Imports and exports of Kezilesu Kirgiz grew 29.9 percent to reach 4.669 billion yuan in the first 11 months of this year, data from Urumqi Customs showed.