The geographical location of Horgos Port

The Horgos Port is located in Horgos City, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, at 80°29′ east longitude and 44°14′ north latitude. It can be clearly seen from the map that the border between China and Kazakhstan is bounded by the meandering Horgos River, from which the Horgos port is named. On November 16, 1983, the Horgos Port was reopened to Kazakhstan and third countries with the approval of the State Council. In August 1992, the governments of China and Kazakhstan agreed to open the port to third countries and have international transport status. The third country opening has now been cancelled, and is only open to Kazakhstan.

Horgos Port is 90 kilometers away from Yining City and 670 kilometers away from Urumqi City. The other port is Horgos Port in Kazakhstan, which is only 15 kilometers away from the Chinese port, 35 kilometers away from Yarkent City (formerly known as Panfilov City) in Kazakhstan, and 378 kilometers away from Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan.

The Horgos Port has a long history. As far back as the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was an important stop on the New North Road of the ancient Silk Road. After the founding of New China, the Horgos Port became the largest port in the west for Sino-Soviet trade due to its superior geographical location. In 1983, the international situation improved and China also ushered in the upsurge of reform and opening up. Since then, the Horgos Port, which had been dormant for nearly 20 years, has regained its vitality. Driven by the spring breeze of reform and opening up, in recent years, the types and quantities of commodities imported and exported through the Horgos Port have increased dramatically, and the number of people entering and exiting the port and the volume of goods passing through the port have increased year by year.

The Horgos Port is the longest national first-class land highway port in the history of western China, with the largest comprehensive transportation volume, the best natural environment and the most complete functions. The Horgos Port is an important port for trade between Xinjiang and Central Asian countries. The Horgos Port is an important window for Xinjiang to open up to the outside world. It is the same as the Khunjerab Port on the China-Pakistan border in southern Xinjiang and the Alashankou Port in northern Xinjiang. Xinjiang is currently one of the three ports open to third countries.

The port has a management committee to check and inspect the integrity of the inspection agency. The port area has built joint inspection halls, office buildings, banks, postal and telecommunications departments with a construction area of ??298,000 square meters, warehouses and freight yards of 122,000 square meters, and a border trade market of more than 1 million square meters. There are 45 permanent institutions and more than 2,500 offices and enterprises of various types.

The Horgos Port planning area covers an area of ??12.5 square kilometers, with a built-up area of ??4.58 square kilometers. The scale of construction land is controlled within 4.17 square kilometers on schedule and within 6 square kilometers in the long term. The nature of the city has been revised from being mainly based on local border trade in the past to being a land-based city on the border with commerce, shopping, tourism, product processing and cargo transfer. It integrates trade, processing, warehousing, tourism and municipal administration. It is Xinjiang's central city facing China. It is an open foreign trade zone in Asia and Europe and a demonstration zone and experimental zone for reform and opening up in Yili Prefecture.

The overall layout of the town consists of five areas: the central port area, the border area, the cargo transfer reserve area, the product processing industrial area, and the residential area. Urban land for urban transportation, urban greening and other properties has been reserved. It is the largest first-class land port in the northwest region. It is located west of the 62nd regiment field in Huocheng County. It is 50km away from the county seat and 350km away from Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. It is the westernmost terminal of National Highway 312. The Horgos Port on the border between China and Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) in the west of Huocheng County is a first-class trade port open to China and Kazakhstan. In recent years, sightseeing, shopping and tourism activities at the port have been quite developed. Horgos Port is named after the river.

As early as the prosperous Tang Dynasty, this place was a post station on the North Silk Road. In the early Qing Dynasty, this place was still a garrison in China. It was one of the six Karens garrisoned by the Ili Solon Camp. During the Tongzhi period, after the demarcation of the border between China and Russia, it became a border checkpoint, formerly known as Nikanka. "Illustrated Records of Xinjiang" records: "Nikankarun is on the east bank of the river, with one inspection committee member and one guard post. The west bank belongs to Russia, and there is Russia." Historically, Ili was a traditional free trade zone. Central Asian peoples trade with China mainly through private trade. The Sino-Russian trade at that time was mainly the trading of Chinese tea and Russian cotton, wool, leather, metal and other products.

In 1851, representatives of China and Russia signed the "Ili Tarbachatai Trade Regulations" in Ili, officially opening the two ports of Ili and Tacheng, and Horgos was designated as the Sino-Russian trade channel. one. In 1881, after the signing of the "Revised Treaty of Ili" between China and Russia, it was stipulated that no tax would be imposed on trade within a hundred miles of the border between the two countries. Trade expanded to Xinjiang and the mainland, and it also became a stop for business travelers between the two countries. After the October Revolution, business relations between Xinjiang and the Soviet Union were temporarily interrupted. In 1921, the Tashkent Soviet government sent representatives to the Xinjiang authorities to temporarily resume trade between the two countries. On May 27, 1920, the Xinjiang Provincial Government and the Soviet Union signed the "Ili Temporary Partial Trade Conditions" (also known as the "Ili Conference Finalization"). The two sides set up business negotiation agencies in Yining and Almaty respectively, and stipulated that all incoming transactions All exported goods went through Nikanka (i.e. Horgos), and Nikanka became the most important foreign trade channel in Xinjiang at that time. After the founding of New China, Nikanka was officially renamed Horgos Port, and the foreign trade between the two sides was completely nationalized. Due to its superior geographical location, Horgos Port became the largest port in the west for Sino-Soviet trade.

From 1950 to 1962, Horgos Port and Sandaohezi Port played a very important role. Import and export materials from both sides were mainly transferred through Ili. After 1962, due to the tense relations between China and the Soviet Union, the import and export volume of Horgos decreased sharply, and by 1967 it was basically closed. By 1983, Horgos was first opened as a trade port with the Soviet Union (Soviet Union). This trade port, which had been dormant for nearly 20 years, regained its vitality. After the reopening of the Horgos Port, it has become an important window for Xinjiang to open up to the west. It is also the largest port for land trade between China and Kazakhstan. With the development of foreign trade, Horgos Port has gradually become a unique border town. Today, the port construction has reached a large scale, with supporting facilities such as border inspection stations, customs, health quarantine, animal and plant quarantine, commodity inspection, post and telecommunications, banks, TV stations, hotels, etc. There is also a border mutual area approved by the State Council in July 1992. . Another viewing point at the port is the national gate and boundary monument. The national gate, which symbolizes the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China and the country, is about 50 meters away from the boundary monument. It has the bright red and eye-catching word "China" and the exquisite national emblem engraved on it. There is a bridge next to the boundary monument. It is the dividing line between the two countries' territories. China and Kazakhstan are bounded by mountains and rivers, and there are many close ties between the two peoples. After the opening of the Horgos port, the exchanges between the two peoples have increased day by day.

In early 1989, the Horgos Port opened an international shuttle bus from Yining in China to Panfilov in Kazakhstan, opening it to third countries. It was another window for Xinjiang to open up to West Asia and European countries. It has also become a hotspot for tourism along the ancient Silk Road, arousing great interest from international tourism organizations. The "Oriental Train" Silk Road tour group organized by European and American countries entered China through the Horgos Port in October 1985, attracting many international friends.