Xinjiang hosts Silk Road transport summit

A forum eyeing transport cooperation along the Silk Road was held on Tuesday during the fourth China-Eurasia Expo (CEE) in the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi.

The first Silk Road Economic Belt Transport Summit was attended by Chinese Transport Minister Yang Chuantang and transport officials from countries along the Silk Road such as Kazakhstan, Latvia and Pakistan.

In his keynote speech, Yang proposed that countries along the Silk Road accelerate the building of cross-border railways and roads, facilitate international container transport, and further open up their transport industries to allow room for global cooperation.

China has signed 15 agreements with Silk Road countries to facilitate direct freight transportation.

Newly built transport channels linking China and Central Asia include six cross-border roads, two railways, one pipe and eight border ports.

Kaspars Ozolins, the Latvian secretary of state for transport, said the development of Eurasian land transport will allow Chinese cargo to flow more smoothly to and from Europe.

Mian Alam Dad Laleka, Pakistan's parliamentary secretary for communication, revealed that China has earmarked funds for research on building a railway connecting Xinjiang's Kashgar City with the Pakistani deepwater Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.

The proposed economic corridor between China and Pakistan would benefit South Asian countries and help maintain regional stability and economic integration, Mian said.

Zhuang Changxing, vice governor of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, suggested Eurasian countries could look at the Union of European Railway Industries as a model of railway cooperation.

Themed "Opening up and Cooperation for Building the Silk Road Economic Belt," the six-day CEE eyes the cultural and economic revival of the Silk Road, which historically links China with Central Asia and Europe.