Abudurezak Timur

(Vice President, Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences)

Author

Abudurezak Timur is Researcher, Secretary of the Party Committee, and Vice President of Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences; President of Xinjiang Ethnic Society; Vice President of Xinjiang Economic Society; and Postgraduate Supervisor at Xinjiang University and Xinjiang Agricultural University. His research areas include regional economics and agricultural economics. He has headed and participated in more than 20 state- and provincial-level research projects, published and co-authored 23 books, and published more than 120 papers. He is an Editor of the Xinjiang Blue Book on Economy and Society. He is an award-winning scholar for his remarkable researches on economics.

Abstract

The core of building the Silk Road Economic Belt lies in international economic and trade cooperation, while the basis is a smooth international trade channel. This paper studies Xinjiang's history and reality, its resource advantage and industrial structure, its process of opening up, economic and technological cooperation, and the changes in international situations. It argues that building the Silk Road Economic Belt is an important historic opportunity for Xinjiang's opening up and economic development. The region should study and take a series of concrete measures with an acute awareness of the economic opportunities the initiative lends and a strong sense of responsibility. Xinjiang should be aware of the profoundness of the initiative. Work regarding Xinjiang's stability, reform and development should be studied against this backdrop, and promoted through this new platform. Xinjiang should consciously plan its work regarding stability, peace and development with an international vision, endeavors to become a pioneer, promoter and participant in building the Silk Road Economic Belt, and joins in the exchanges with neighboring countries and regions under the new platform. Xinjiang shoulders a vital task of production and processing in China's strategy of opening to the west. Though sharing the similar resources and industry distribution with Central Asian nations, Xinjiang enjoys comparative advantages of labor force. Furthermore, based on its large-scale economy, geographical advantages, and flow of factors, Xinjiang can accelerate the development of those industries with local characteristics, boost its export ability by upgrading its industrial structures, and achieve its development through expanding opening up. Viewed against the backdrop of China's strategy of opening to the west, Xinjiang, located in northwestern China, is a safety shield for the nation. The stability of the border areas and national security requires a prosperous border trade and an accelerated economic opening, thus opening to the west is not only an economic strategy, but also a need in coordinating a balanced social and political development.