Modern merchants follow famous footsteps

A guide explains the blueprint of a duty-free international plaza being built in Kashgar's special economic zone. Zhao Ge / Xinhua

The view from afar

Other countries linked to the proposed economic belt are also taking steps to make the idea become a reality.

Ramazan Kabasakal, head of foreign relations for Ankara, the capital of Turkey, said: "Xinjiang shares strong cultural, religious and cultural ties with Turkey, which makes us almost a home away from home for Xinjiang businesspeople. These ties are advantageous in terms of trade and cooperation."

Ankara was once an important stop on the ancient Silk Road and it will play the same role in the economic belt, acting as a transport hub between Europe and the East, he said.

"We mainly import construction materials and export food products from and to China. What makes us proud is that we now export high-end silk products to China, a country that was once famous for its silk," he added.

Orozbek Nusuvaliev, manager of the economic free-trade development zone in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, said the Kyrgyz government is very interested in the idea of an economic belt along the old Silk Road and is considering introducing national policies to support it.

Seyed Solat Mortazavi, the mayor of the Iranian city of Mashhad, a major oasis on the original route, said, "We have had a vision of the economic belt and now we need to define that vision.

"It will serve as a common development platform for all the cities that once prospered as a result of the free flow of people along the ancient trade route. To recapture those glory days, we will launch direct flights to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang," he said.

In addition to building closer relationships between governments, bringing people together through tourism would also be an important function of the economic belt, he said. "We will adopt preferential polices to give full support to the idea proposed by President Xi, but China and other countries need to lay out a step-by-step road map so we can follow it together."

He expressed the hope that China will impose strict rules to prevent low-quality goods from being traded within the economic belt.

Energy security

He Lunzhi, director of Xinjiang University's economic research center, said the Silk Road economic belt is not just about trade and cultural exchanges, because Central Asian markets are quite small and are still relatively underdeveloped; the bigger picture is that China needs to secure its energy supply and seek better cooperation in fighting terrorism. Central Asia - known as "the energy resource base of the 21st century, " according to He - boasts abundant natural resources.

"China needs to expand the channels and sources for oil imports because imported oil will account for 75 percent of domestic consumption by 2020," He said. "The countries on the 'new Silk Road' must work together to maintain the stability of the region and help China to combat separatist, extremist and terrorist forces," he added.

Terrorist activities in China have become more prevalent in recent years. Attacks have spread from the areas bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan and Russia and have triggered panic among the public and endangered state security, according to Wu Dongli, director of the Ministry of Public Security's border control bureau.

"China needs to strengthen international cooperation in fighting terrorism. Stronger trade and cultural relationships with other countries in the region would be hugely beneficial for those aims," he said.