Letter from Urumqi Railway Station.

In Xinjiang in September, fruits and vegetables are fragrant and picturesque. From 200 1 September1Sunday to September 15, a delegation of 24 well-known overseas entrepreneurs from Taiwan Province Province gathered in Urumqi, a famous city in the western part of the motherland, to attend the 10th Urumqi Economic and Trade Fair. Shi Sihao, vice chairman of the All-China Taiwan Federation, led a delegation to attend the Urumqi Fair.

This is the third time that our association has organized a well-known overseas business delegation from Taiwan Province Province to visit Chinese mainland. The 24 visiting members come from seven countries, including the United States, Netherlands, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Costa Rica and Dominica, and are engaged in real estate, large resort hotels, supermarkets, chemicals, clothing, feed, banking, securities, precision machinery parts and other industries. Most members of this group come from Taiwan Province province. It has been twenty or thirty years since they left Taiwan Province Province for overseas development, and they have all been naturalized in their host countries. Most members have business ties with the mainland of China. The unlimited business opportunities bred by the development of the western region have great attraction to overseas Taiwanese businessmen, and the number of applicants for this inspection has been rising again and again.

After ten years' construction, Urumqi Economic and Trade Fair has developed from an obscure local border trade fair that needs state subsidies to the largest and most influential international event for economic and trade negotiation, investment cooperation and commodity display in western China and even Central Asia, and has become one of the six regional trade fairs in China. At the opening ceremony of 1 in September, more than 5,000 guests from home and abroad gathered together, filled with lofty sentiments of discussing cooperation and seeking common development. At 0: 20 a.m., Tomur Dawamat, Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Wang Zhaoguo, Vice Chairman of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang Lequan, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Autonomous Region, Abulati Abdurexiti, Chairman of the Autonomous Region, and Sun Zhenyu, Vice Minister of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Cooperation jointly cut the ribbon and declared the meeting open. After the opening ceremony, the delegation visited the large-scale main exhibition hall of the Wuqi Fair, shuttling between more than 200 booths at/kloc-0, and collected a large number of project materials with Xinjiang characteristics and advantages, and returned with a full load.

The party committee and government of the autonomous region attached great importance to the delegation. Wang Lequan, secretary of the party committee of the autonomous region, Abulati Abdurexiti, chairman of the autonomous region, and other leaders cordially met with all the members of the delegation. Secretary Wang Lequan introduced the general situation of Xinjiang's economic and social development and Xinjiang's development ideas in the western development. Wang Lequan said that Xinjiang has two major priorities in the development of the western region, one is the construction of ecological environment, and the other is the construction of infrastructure. Infrastructure not only refers to hardware, but also includes the construction of software such as science and technology, education, legal system and personnel training. In the western development, according to the reality of Xinjiang, three strategies will be implemented, namely, the strategy of resource transformation, the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and the strategy of sustainable development. The economic type and orientation of Xinjiang is to develop characteristic economy. When talking about the current Urumqi Fair, he said that Xinjiang has successfully held nine Urumqi Fair. In the future, Wuqi Fair will focus on building Xinjiang into an international business center, giving full play to its advantages as a bridgehead for western trade, relying on the mainland, facing foreign countries and coordinating with the development of the western region, and attracting some good projects in the region, especially those with advantages and characteristics such as agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture and mineral risk exploration and development. According to reports, among the visiting delegations at home and abroad met by Secretary Wang and President A, our delegation has the longest speech time and the most detailed content, which has attracted extensive attention from Chinese and foreign media.

All the members of the delegation thanked the leaders of the autonomous region for their meeting and briefing, and said that they would cherish this rare opportunity of inspection, carefully understand and evaluate various investment projects in Xinjiang, and strive to come to Xinjiang to develop their own careers as soon as possible.

On the morning of September 2, the delegation visited Hualing Wholesale Market, the base camp of Hualing Industry and Trade Group, a famous private enterprise in Xinjiang. Hualing Company was established in 1988. After a short period of more than ten years, it has formed a diversified business pattern focusing on the wholesale market and integrating foreign trade, construction engineering, decoration, transportation, hotel tourism, industry and other industries. The Group has more than 20 economic entities with total assets of 265,438+billion yuan and profits and taxes of over 100 million yuan in 2000. It is one of the leading enterprises in Xinjiang. Under the leadership of the company's leading group, the delegation visited the large-scale Hualing Building and the wholesale market of light industrial products, and the endless stream of hypermarkets and surging crowds suddenly made you feel the breath of vigorous development. The person in charge of the company introduced the company's development process and development ideas to everyone. Many people in the delegation are engaged in the trade, supermarket and clothing industries, showing strong interest in participating in the operation of Hualing wholesale market, and having a preliminary discussion with the leading group of the company on the relevant cooperation mode, and having a good talk.

On the afternoon of September 2, members of the delegation had a discussion and exchange with Xinjiang Economic and Trade Commission, the United Front Work Department, the leaders of Taiwan Affairs Office and some private entrepreneurs, and got a detailed understanding of Xinjiang's economic development status and planning.

During the discussion, the delegation mainly paid attention to three aspects: First, transportation. Xinjiang is located in the center of Eurasia, far from the coast. Will the transportation cost be high? Second, where are the unique advantages and resources in Xinjiang, and which projects are most suitable for development in Xinjiang; The third is the environment, including the influence of natural environment and social environment on economic development. At the symposium, the leaders of relevant units in Xinjiang answered the questions of the Committee members in a targeted manner, so that everyone could have a deeper understanding of Xinjiang from macro to micro, from sensibility to rationality. Zhou Shengtao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Autonomous Region, made a special trip to meet you. Secretary Zhou, who is engaged in economic and trade work, introduced the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of Xinjiang's economic development very professionally and vividly. He hoped that the vast number of overseas Taiwanese businessmen would seize the opportunity, dispel their concerns, boldly go west and achieve a win-win situation.

In addition to attending the Wuqi Fair, the delegation also visited Kashgar, a city with strong Uighur characteristics in southern Xinjiang, Kuitun, the former residence of the outstanding representative of the Third Agricultural Division of the Production and Construction Corps who made historic contributions to Xinjiang's development, and visited Horgos Port, one of the five major border trade ports in the west. At the same time, they also enjoyed the magnificent scenery of Pamirs, the pearl of the plateau like a fairyland, and the picturesque Nalati grassland.

The members of the delegation expressed their heartfelt thanks to the National Taiwan Federation, the Xinjiang Taiwan Federation and the relevant departments in Xinjiang for their thoughtful arrangements and warm reception. At the same time, in the discussion and meeting, everyone talked openly about their impressions and experiences of this trip. Members of the delegation generally believe that the rapid economic development and huge business opportunities in the mainland of the motherland, especially the large-scale development of the western region, are really attractive to Taiwanese businessmen, and they very much hope to find suitable investment channels. Taiwan Province Island is a small island with extremely limited development space. In addition, the investment environment has become increasingly bad recently, and the cost has increased. It is the general trend to come to the mainland to find vitality and a way out. In view of the increasingly saturated investment in the developed areas along the southeast coast, the influx of international consortia has made the competitive environment there too fierce and cruel. Most overseas Taiwanese businessmen, mainly small and medium-sized Taiwanese businessmen, hope to find some opportunities in the mainland by taking advantage of the east wind of the great development of the western region of the motherland. I hope that through this trip to Xinjiang, we can establish close information communication channels with local government departments in Xinjiang. In this way, members of the delegation can't find a suitable project here, and they can also bring back the information for other colleagues in the Chamber of Commerce to share for reference, which has broad potential for cooperation.

Members of the delegation said that Xinjiang has a vast territory, with deserts, oases, inexhaustible precious resources and unspoiled natural ecology comparable to Switzerland. This is an extremely rare and non-renewable wealth of the country and the nation. It must not be destroyed by over-exploitation. The pursuit of economic growth at the expense of the environment is not worth the loss, and the future troubles are endless. Xinjiang is 40 times the size of Taiwan Province Province, adjacent to Central Asian countries, and the Eurasian Continental Bridge runs through it, with unlimited development potential. How to formulate an appropriate development strategy according to the characteristics and foundation of Xinjiang is very important. Some members suggested that Xinjiang should start with the traditional labor-intensive light industry, open up the West Asian market, accumulate funds and experience, do a good job in infrastructure construction, lay a solid foundation, make steady progress, and don't rush for success.

Many members sincerely said that domestic enterprises will certainly encounter many difficulties at the beginning if they want to explore the international market, just like when they first arrived overseas. Most overseas Taiwanese businessmen have worked hard in the host country for decades, and have been quite integrated into the local mainstream society and are familiar with the situation. Domestic enterprises can take them as a stronghold for outward development, make use of the foundation they have laid overseas, achieve their goals as quickly as possible, do not repeat the detours they have already gone through, and at least reduce many unnecessary setbacks.

During the 65,438+00-day visit to Xinjiang, the delegation visited Dunhuang, a bright pearl on the famous ancient Silk Road, and Longtou 'an in the northwest, which was warmly welcomed by the Taiwan Federation of Gansu Province, the Taiwan Federation of Shaanxi Province and government departments at all levels. The delegation visited Shaanxi High-tech Development Zone and some enterprises, and had a discussion and exchange. Committee members said that in recent years, the achievements made by domestic enterprises in improving production technology, improving technical equipment and expanding production scale have greatly exceeded their imagination. The good investment environment and the operation mode of economic and technological development zone, which is increasingly in line with international practices, are impressive. At the same time, I sincerely admire the prosperity and vigorous development of the motherland, showing a strong comprehensive national strength and great development potential. I hope that the two sides of the strait will establish three links as soon as possible and strengthen cooperation. (Gao Weiwen)