Two years after its establishment, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) has emerged as a strategic gateway for trade, logistics, and industrial innovation in China’s northwest, positioning Xinjiang as a high-standard hub for cross-border commerce. The zone, covering 179.66 square kilometers across Urumqi, Horgos, and Kashgar, now contributes significantly to the region’s foreign trade and investment landscape.

By September 2025, the FTZ had attracted over 18,000 new enterprises, contributing 40% of Xinjiang’s total foreign trade in the first nine months of the year. Local authorities have emphasized industrial transformation, with a focus on sectors ranging from aviation and logistics to biomedicine. Policy innovations, including bonded maintenance and bonded refueling, have not only lowered operational costs for airlines but also attracted international carriers from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and beyond.

At Urumqi International Airport, international cargo throughput reached 68,100 tonnes in the first eight months of 2025, a year-on-year surge of nearly 370%, underscoring the impact of regulatory efficiency and supportive policies on logistics and trade flows.

Horgos, as the FTZ’s primary railway port, has implemented a “smart port + expedited customs clearance” model, reducing customs processing from three hours to one, enabling same-day dispatch to key regional markets such as Almaty, Kazakhstan. The port has become China's largest land port for commercial vehicle exports, with nearly 780,000 vehicles shipped from November 2023 to September 2025, while China-Europe freight train volumes have surged correspondingly. Streamlined highway transport policies have eliminated redundant warehousing and inspections, further enhancing freight throughput.

Kashgar, a key Belt and Road node, has aligned its Economic Development Zone policies with Kyrgyzstan's free economic zone, improving cross-border efficiency. An international mail exchange office and a Transport Internationaux Routiers (TIR) hub now enable warehouse-to-warehouse deliveries between China and Kyrgyzstan within 48–72 hours, doubling operational efficiency. In the first nine months of 2025, bilateral trade in the zones reached RMB 3.66 billion (~USD 516 million).

The FTZ is also advancing industrial innovation. The China-Uzbekistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on New Drugs, launched in December 2023, serves as a cross-border R&D platform integrating six international labs across Central Asia. Plans are underway to establish a full-chain ecosystem covering research, production, clinical trials, and talent cultivation, supporting both domestic and regional healthcare initiatives.