The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has distinctive cultural, positional, space and climate advantages for constructing a pivotal point along the Silk Road Economic Belt, said Liu Hui, an NPC deputy and region’s chairperson when receiving interviews after the open-to-media panel discussion on March 6.

Being a large clustering area of the Hui ethnic group, Ningxia shares similar culture and living habits with Muslims around the world, Liu said. Located in the geographic center of China, Ningxia is also an important town on the passage towards Central Asia and Europe, which in turn facilitates the construction of a regional logistics hub and aviation center, she added. The construction of an Inland Opening-up Economic Pilot Zone and the annual China-Arab States Expo will bring more development opportunities, she continued.

Liu expressed that Ningxia will blaze the trail of reform in the near future. A detailed plan will be drawn up in accordance with the national strategy to guide Ningxia into actively taking part in the Silk Road Economic Belt and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Liu said. Ningxia will let the market play a bigger role and arouse the initiatives from private enterprises in the pilot zone construction, she added.

Mechanism innovation and the several functions of the Yinchuan Comprehensive Bonded Area will be enhanced to improve clearance efficiency, Liu said.