The "Silk Road Economic Belt" (the "Belt"), proposed by the central government has brought opportunities for the development of the western region in China, especially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. What requirements does the development of the "Belt" bring to Xinjiang? Anbound's chief researcher Chan Kung believes the following factors are important.
First, the society needs to be stable and the social atmosphere should be improved. When it comes to the Xinjiang issue, many people are worried about the security issue, yet in reality confidence is the more important. The international environment in Israel is rather unstable, but this does not hinder the stable development of Israeli domestic society; on the contrary, it attracts foreign investment and tourists. The reason is others are confident in Israel. If some specific research is done on the stability of Xinjiang, there should be a breakthrough, and most importantly, a boost to people's confidence as social stability is built around confidence.
The second is infrastructure construction. The urban construction in Xinjiang has made great progress in recent years. Take ürümqi as an example, its infrastructure has obviously improved in just a few years; currently many five-star hotels have been built and in operation. The hotel and the necessary real estate facilities provide a foundation for the establishment of various headquarters. For Xinjiang, especially ürümqi, this "headquarter economy" should be established; business communities from the Arab countries, Central Asia or other countries can set up headquarter here, so as to realize the internationalization of ürümqi. This means that the infrastructure construction in ürümqi is of great importance to maintaining stability and the New Silk Road.
The third is a complete and open information system. With the research based on information tracking, Anbound has always advocated for open information, because only openness can allow us to understand and control the situation effectively. The U.S. intelligence and information theory has already made significant changes in respond to the September 11 attacks. Before the September 11 attacks, in order to reduce the sharing level of social information, the U.S. applied the closed information system which shares the key information within the scope of privilege. However, after the September 11 attacks, U.S. realized it was a big mistake and therefore made a fundamental adjustment in its intelligence and information theory in which emphasizing the information sharing between departments. Therefore, sharing information is an improvement. Since the information will be open sooner or later, hence the information system is not a simple problem of "stability maintenance". In addition to "stability maintenance" we should also consider the issue of development; covering information would not be a lasting solution.
The fourth is the high-speed rail (HSR). The "New Silk Road" is closely related to the HSR technology. One of the key points of land power's revival is the comparison of freight rates. The reason why oceans are important is that sea transport is relatively cheaper; this is maintained by sea power and therefore, sea power is based on low cost and high efficiency shipping. In the history of the Silk Road, goods transportation required caravans of camels that carried smaller amount supplies, which made the cost quite expensive. With the emergence of maritime shipping, the overland Silk Road collapsed. The HSR, a wondrous modern technological invention, can be classified into passenger transport and freight transport, and the passenger transport has become common. In fact, the technology of freight transport has long been matured. The emergence and application of HSR technology has actually changed the history, and the "New Silk Road" is likely to reappear in the world due to the HSR technology, driving China back to the land power world.
The fifth is the internationalization level of ürümqi. One of the goals of the New Silk Road is to make ürümqi the center of what Halford John Mackinder calls "world island", so it must have a certain level of internationalization. Xinjiang's immediate neighbors are poor, but the financial needs of Central Asian and the Arab region are there, and the scales of Islamic funds are large; countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait do put some of their reserves into Islamic finance. This kind of fund requires compliance with the Sharia law, which is something have to consider. Having sufficient money in these funds to be utilized remains an issue that requires discussion and research in China. In addition, there is a lot of oil capital that needs to be invested in high-growth areas, so there is potential for cooperation. The goal of the New Silk Road is to create a transnational common market system between Asia and Europe. If the market system of Xinjiang is in line with this common market, to a certain extent, it will achieve regional integration, and if this complies with the common trade and investment law to maintain the common market order, there will be more Arab oil capital willing to consider this place. Internationalization is an issue and challenge that ürümqi must face in the future.
The sixth is the development of education. Language education, like English, Chinese and Arabic is highly important. If Xinjiang does not catch up, it will lag behind Ningxia. It appears that Xinjiang considers more short-term development issues, while the long-term ones are relatively less considered; this includes the education. If we design some specific programs to solve the education issues, such as giving teachers the honor and social status, and having sufficient social transparency on the education plan, these will be of great help to improve education situation in Xinjiang.
The seventh is to develop the convention and exhibition economy. As the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, ürümqi has to develop its exhibition economy, which should play a leading role in the industry. The convention center and the exhibition center are all related to the tertiary industry. In China, Ningxia has done a lot in this aspect, and the local investment intensity is quite large, which gradually develops, and turn the exhibition center as the center of communication. Such communication activities itself involves a lot of economic behaviors, which may be investment behaviors, production behaviors, or other activities of wealth. The establishment of various centers, such as the convention centers and exhibition centers can be done by the industry, government, official, and private sectors. These are not only the brand promotion, but also generate business opportunities in service industries.
Final analysis conclusion:
The "Silk Road Economic Belt" provides Xinjiang with excellent opportunities for development, and also raised many development requirements. The state, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and related parties in Xinjiang should make better planning for the future development of Xinjiang on the basis of professional research, planning, and design.
