Wine and handicrafts made in Georgia helped the South Eurasian country draw attention to its pavilion in the fourth session of the China-Eurasia Expo， which was held in Urumqi， capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on September 1-6.
　　“At the first China-Eurasia Expo [in 2011]， the Georgian pavilion was tucked away in a small corner where few would notice it； now the pavilion is more than three times the size of the first one，” said Tong Jiansheng， General Manager of Xinjiang Beifangjianda Trade Co. Ltd.， which mainly imports wine from Georgia.
　　Tong revealed that Georgian wineries have received plenty of orders from participating in China-Eurasia expos.
　　This year’s China-Eurasia Expo， with the theme “Building the Silk Road Economic Belt Through Opening Up and Cooperation，” gathers more than 1，200 companies from 60 countries and regions from the world’s six continents.
　　 Unleashed potential
　　The Silk Road Economic Belt， an idea proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013， aims for cultural revival of the Silk Road， which historically linked China with Central Asia and Europe， as a way of developing political and economic ties.
　　“We are ready to work with other countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt to open more business cooperation zones and crossborder economic cooperation zones in order to provide an enabling environment for the devel- opment of industrial clusters，” said Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang when delivering a keynote speech at the expo’s opening ceremony.
　　Wang said that the argument for building the Silk Road Economic Belt is rooted in history and oriented toward the future. “The ancient Silk Road ran along a miraculous stretch of land， a land of abundance， diverse ethnic groups and brilliant civilizations，” he noted. “This area， with more than 50 countries and 3.8 billion people， is one of the most promising regions in the world. As long as we take a long-term perspective and work in unison， we will make the pie of regional economic cooperation bigger.”
　　“The Silk Road Economic Belt has injected vitality into regional cooperation in Eurasia. The expo will help drive such cooperation further and contribute to common development，” said Li Jinzao， China’s Vice Minister of Commerce， at the opening ceremony.
　　Xinjiang， China’s largest provincial-level region， covers an area of 1.66 million square km， three times the size of France. It connects Russia， Mongolia， Kazakhstan， Kyrgyzstan， Tajikistan， India and Pakistan， with a borderline extending 5，600 km， giving it easy access to markets in the Eurasian heartland. Urumqi is where the Silk Road once threaded through. 　　The region is sparing no efforts in building itself into a core hub of transportation， trade， finance， culture and healthcare services along the Silk Road Economic Belt， said Zhang Chunxian， Xinjiang’s Party chief， adding that the region is willing to work with countries in Eurasia to reach common prosperity.
　　At the end of this year， Xinjiang’s first high-speed railway will be put into use. The new line will be used only as a passenger line， sparing existing railway transport capacity to make it more convenient for bulk commodities to be sent out of Xinjiang， according to the project’s plan.
　　The high-speed line will greatly improve Xinjiang’s transport capabilities to Central Asian and European countries and strengthen its role of being the transportation hub along the Silk Road Economic Belt， said Erkin Tuniyaz， Vice Chairman of the Xinjiang Regional Government.
　　“In recent years， the trade volume between Georgia and China has increased largely thanks to Xinjiang，” said Zviad Dzidziguri， Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Parliament， who attended the opening ceremony of this year’s China-Eurasia Expo.
　　Sitting at an important hub along the emerging economic belt， Georgia looks forward to more cooperation with Xinjiang， according to Dzidziguri.
　　Turkey， another important country along the Silk Road， has also been very active in economic cooperation with Xinjiang in the last few years. At the China-Turkey Business and Investment Forum held in Urumqi on September 2， Li Jianjie， Deputy Director of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’s Department of Commerce， revealed that in the past 10 years， the trade volume between Xinjiang and Turkey has increased from less than $1 million to more than $10 million. Turkey has so far invested in 10 projects in Xinjiang.
　　 Attractive opportunities
　　Aiming to draw regional economies together to discuss development strategies， a host of forums on boosting exchanges in terms of politics， economy， trade and energy were held on the sidelines of this year’s China-Eurasia Expo.
　　“Forums focusing on the Silk Road Economic Belt， technical innovation and China’s homegrown Beidou Navigation System [an alternative to GPS] will certainly play a significant part in enhancing economic exchanges and draw more investment to Xinjiang，” said Li Jingyuan， head of the Xinjiang International Expo Administration.
　　Li Jingyuan said that discussions on Xinjiang’s fruit industry would be particularly beneficial， as the region boasts a geographical advantage. 　　“Experts from China， Russia， Kazakhstan and other countries exchange ideas on fruit plantation as well as market potential， or even sign contracts， which provides a golden opportunity for Xinjiang’s fruits to go global，” Li Jingyuan added.
　　Due to the opportunities arising from the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt， a huge amount of investment is flowing into Xinjiang. On September 2， 203 projects in the region with investment from companies all over China were signed. Their combined value reached 20 trillion yuan （$3.26 trillion）.
　　Among them， the number of textile projects is 22， involving investment of 28.9 billion yuan （$4.71 billion）， an increase of 16.22 percent compared to the previous year.
　　The boom in the textile industry in Xinjiang was also reflected at this year’s China-Eurasia Expo， which， for the first time， specifically set up a separate area for clothing and textile exhibition.
　　Sun Xiuqin， a fashion designer local in Xinjiang， displayed her new designs at the expo. “Xinjiang is home to many minority ethnic groups and their costumes are very beautiful，” said Sun. “These costumes provide various inspirations for me and I believe they will be popular in the world.”
　　“This is the first time that Xinjiang’s local textile companies have displayed themselves at an international expo，”said Fang Liqin， General Manager of Hetianshangyi Clothing Co. Ltd.， which opened its factory in Xinjiang and is expected to put it into use in late September.“We spared no efforts to show our best at the expo.”
　　Fang is very happy that two companies from Canada and Kazakhstan expressed their will to cooperate with Hetianshangyi on the first day of the expo. “The textile market for the countries in Central Asia has a lot of potential and we are very optimistic for the future of our business，” Fang said.
　　Wang Ning， an economic research fellow with the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences， said that the China-Eurasia Expo will continue to be an economic impetus for the region， particularly amid Xinjiang’s growing influence on the Silk Road Economic Belt.