Across China: Kashgar's Silk Road ambitions -- from backwater to bridgehead

When Deng Xiaoping created China's first special economic zone (SEZ) in 1980, Ye Liwei's father was one of those who helped transform Shenzhen from a tiny fishing village to the ultra-modern megacity it is today.

More than 30 years later, Ye is focused on another special economic zone. On graduating from Brock University in Canada in 2013, Ye took himself to Kashgar, center of the Uygur civilization and once an important staging post along the Silk Road.

The company where Ye works, Kashgar Development Group (KDG), is building two 58-story skyscrapers in the eastern part of the city, at a cost of six billion yuan (981 million U.S. dollars). At 268 meters, the towers will be the tallest buildings in Xinjiang. Already finished in the same compound is a four-story duty free shopping center.

Kashgar is a city of construction sites. Impressive buildings are rising on both sides of Shenka Avenue, the main drag linking the new district with the fabled old town. The city plans 18 new high-rises in the new district, which is still sparsely populated.

The government is making it as easy as possible for enterprises to set up their regional headquarters in what could become the powerhouse of Kashgar's development. The search for high-caliber personnel includes a wide array of sweeteners, not least of which are high salaries and free apartments.

But Kashgar's ambitions consist of far more than just one new district. "We want to regain the status of the Kashgar of hundreds of years ago, when caravans between East and West made it the most important city in western China," said Xu Fenglin, president of KDG, in which the Kashgar government has a major stake.

FLYING HIGHER AND FARTHER

Expectations are high in Kashgar. Projects such as the China-Pakistan and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railways, though still in the discussion phase, have excited government officials and local people alike. Already having direct flights to Islamabad, there are plans for scheduled flights to central Asia and Turkey.

The city has never concealed its intention to emulate the success of Shenzhen, courtesy of a pairing assistance program, which saw the Shenzhen government take a leading role in steering Kashgar's development. In 2010, the slogan "Shenzhen in the east, Kashgar in the west" became emblematic of the city's new status as an SEZ.

Just as Shenzhen's success relies heavily on neighboring Hong Kong, Kashgar plans to work closely with its own neighbors: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. A tariff-free zone to the north of the Kashgar airport opened in April.

A CARAVAN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

At Irkeshtam on the Kyrgyzstan border, container trucks trundle daily staples into the rugged and mountainous republic and haul minerals back to China. Uygur truck driver Ahematijan Sbek, 37, has been driving trucks through the port for eight years. He is delighted that there is now more competition in the business.

"Eight years ago, there were only 300 trucks in my company. Now there are more than 500," he said. These caravans of consumer goods and machinery are expanding as Chinese companies are increasing presence in central Asia.

As part of the Kashgar SEZ, Irkeshtam features an import-export processing zone, a logistics storage center and a commercial service center.

"This port will no longer be a backwater. Thanks to the revival of the Silk Road, it will be a bridgehead for Chinese initiative," said Xu Yun, deputy director of the port. Endi