B：Here is the world’s first cross-border free trade zone, which can witness the miracle of crossing two countries with just one step! And you can easily shop around the world here!

Hu Chunmei / General Manager of the European Tax-Free City 

We do have a price advantage, as our goods come directly from Europe, resulting in prices similar to those in the European domestic market.

B：In the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center, no visa required, just passport or it only takes 15 RMB and 3 minutes to apply for an entry-exit pass, and each person can carry tax-free items worth up to 8,000 RMB per day. The cooperation center is equivalent to the area of 800 football fields, with China occupying 60 percent of the area and Kazakhstan accounting for approximately 40 percent of it. On the Chinese side, we met Hu Chunmei, an Italian Chinese, who opened a store in Horgos.

Hu Chunmei / General Manager of the European Tax-Free City

I was born in Wenzhou. My parents went to Italy very early. I went to Italy when I was eleven years old. But every time I return, I notice that China has changed a lot. It has developed incredibly fast in recent years. Perhaps returning to China was the right choice for us.

Hu Chunmei / General Manager of the European Tax-Free City

This is a relatively free, free trade zone, so it has more guests from the five central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Various currencies are used here, such as the Kazakhstani Tenge and the Euro. When purchasing goods in Europe and the five Central Asian countries, transactions are typically settled in US dollars.

Our goods are from Duisburg, Germany, and the transportation time to our location in a container is approximately one week. With customs clearance and other processes factored in, the total time for the goods to arrive here is no more than two weeks. Sea transportation took a long time, and air transportation was relatively expensive. With the launch of the "Belt and Road Initiative," the "China Railway Express" was introduced, and we were fortunate to find a return trip from Chongqing, Xinjiang to Europe, which significantly reduced our costs and improved efficiency.

Venus:

Do we have any advantages in terms of price in our tax-free city?

Hu Chunmei / General Manager of the European Tax-Free City

Our Horgos cooperation center is situated outside the customs area in China, eliminating the need to enter the customs area or pay taxes. Consequently, both countries are in a tax-free state.

B：This red and blue line has a special meaning. The red side represents the border of China, and crossing this red and blue line is Kazakhstan.

V：On the side of Kazakhstan, we met Danil from Belarus, whose store has five hundred different products. He was attracted to the unique location advantages and preferential tax policies of the cooperation center and chose to open a store here.

V: Why open a store here?

Melnikov Danil / General Manager of the Belarus Tax-Free Store

We are very interested in the Chinese market. China is our close neighbor and the market demand here is huge. We want Chinese customers to know more about our products. Thus, we opened the store here. Interestingly, the market in China shows greater interest in Belarusian products as compared to ours.

B: During our visits with Danil, a team of three to four staff accompanies him. Danil communicates in Russian, which is then translated into Kazakh by one translator, and further translated into Mandarin by another translator, enabling smooth communications. One of the staff is Dilinaier, originally from another city in Ili Prefecture. She joined the cooperative center immediately after graduating from university, recognizing the opportunities available here.

Dilinaier / salesperson of the Belarus duty-free store

I’m Chinese. As a member of the Kazakh ethnic group among the 56 ethnic groups, I have a natural advantage in speaking Kazakh and can also speak Mandarin Chinese. For example, when I was in the store, on the first day of communication, some of their staff could communicate in Russian. I couldn't understand them initially. However, they switched to Kazakh when speaking to me. Additionally, there were Chinese tourists conversing in Chinese, it felt quite unusual to be immersed in three languages every day.

B: Dilinaier introduced us to chocolates from Kazakhstan, honey from Kyrgyzstan, and powdered milk from Uzbekistan, which are popular among Chinese tourists.

Dilinaier / salesperson of the Belarus duty-free store

In the store, I mainly serve as a translator. I believe that Horgos has developed relatively well with relatively open environment. This cooperation center is an economic and trade center between the two countries, which has a particularly open and diverse culture.

B：According to statistics, the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center has attracted over 3,500 merchants to set up their shops there in over the past ten years of the Belt and Road Initiative. In the first nine months of 2023, the number of entries and exits from the Chinese side exceeded 2.5 million, making it a significant platform for economic and trade exchanges as well as cultural interactions between China and Kazakhstan.

B: "I am now standing at the sixth-generation national gate of Horgos; that’s really impressive and amazing!

V: And Horgos is located at the border between Kazakhstan and China. It is a major transportation hub along the Belt and Road.

B：We are currently at the sixth-generation national gate of Horgos, which is a magnificent and grand landmark building in the area, being adjacent to the China Railway Express. Each generation of the national gate represents a customs port. Until now, the sixth generation gate, being a new site, has greatly improved work efficiency compared to the fifth-generation national gate. The time for goods to pass customs has been shortened from the original two days to five hours now.

Since 2016, the total number of China Railway Express (Central Asia) passing through the Horgos railway port has exceeded 30,000 with a freight capacity of 3 million tons, and a visitation by 5 million travelers. More and more daily necessities, electromechanical equipment, electronic products, agricultural products and by-products, and other “Made in China” products are choosing to go from the Horgos port to the Central Asian and European markets, reaching 45 cities in 18 countries such as Germany, Poland, Belgium, and Russia.

B: The China Railway Express has developed from its initial route from Chongqing to Duisburg of Germany, to reach 82 cities in China, including Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Yiwu, Shanghai, Harbin, Quanzhou, Jiangmen, and more than 160 cities in Eurasian countries. It has formed five major exit ports: Alashankou, Horgos, Erenhot, Manzhouli and Suifenhe; and five major gathering centers: Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Zhengzhou and Urumqi.

The name of Horgos has two meanings. In Mongolian, it means 'The place where camel caravans passed by.’ While in Kazakh, it means 'a place to accumulate wealth.'

B: The rapid development of Horgos has contributed to the improvement of living standards. We visited a renowned local trading company. The company's owner is involved in the fruit trade business. He is among the first batch of entrepreneurs following the opening of Horgos Port and is considered a legendary figure in the local area. The development of the company proved that Horgos is an ideal place for "panning for gold and pursuing dreams."

Jiang Congjie / Vice President of Jin Yi Group of Horgos

Firstly, there are policy advantages, and secondly, cultural similarities play a significant role, as both Kazakhstan and the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture share a large population of Kazakhs. Thirdly, the geographic proximity of Horgos to Almaty (Kazakhstan), being only 360 kilometers away with a full-speed highway, provides a unique advantage not found in other ports. These factors collectively contribute to the strategic importance of Horgos in facilitating trade and cultural exchange under the Belt and Road initiative.

B: From exporting fruits and vegetables car by car to now forming multiple businesses such as agricultural products and by-products processing and export, tourism, and real estate, Horgos, located in the core area of the Silk Road, has brought these entrepreneurs good opportunities and helped realize their dreams.

B: Horgos has developed rapidly in just ten years since its establishment. Being here, I feel that there are opportunities everywhere, and anyone can find the chance on this platform.

V: I witnessed the integration of different ethnic groups in southern Xinjiang, and in here, I observed that people from different countries can work together. Just now, we complete our interview with four different languages, and we can see people from different countries playing poker together. This is a good example of how people can develop friendship and cooperation.

V：Horgos, the golden port, runs at the forefront of the Belt and Road initiative. When standing in front of the national gate of Horgos, we have a strong feeling that behind us lies the motherland, while in front of us lies the world.