The city of Yinchuan, provincial capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, should grasp the opportunities of “One Belt and One Road” initiative and the construction of Ningxia Inland Opening-up Economic Pilot Zone and Yinchuan Comprehensive Bonded Area, to build up a pivotal city along the Silk Road Economic Belt, said Ma Li, an NPC deputy and the mayor of Yinchuan when he attending the third session of the 12th National People’s Congress in Beijing on March 10.

According to the national strategic plan of constructing Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the city of Yinchuan is set to be a pivotal city along the Silk Road Economic Belt, Ma mentioned. The second China-Arab States Expo to be held this September is a great opportunity to enhance westward opening up and accelerate the development of open economy in the city, he added.

The Yuehai Bay Central Business District, a pilot and experimental zone focusing on China-Arab States trade, has attracted many renowned enterprises and it will greatly facilitate cooperation between China and Arab States, and enhance the conference and exhibition economy, said Ma. The Yinchuan Comprehensive Bonded Area is the kernel engine to boost inland opening-up economy, he said. Until the end of last year, a total of 102 enterprises have been registered in the area and its imports and exports volume has exceeded US$ 1.73 billion. This year, we will step up the pillar industries like jewelry, wine and Muslim beef and mutton, construct high standard imported ports and demonstrate bonded trade in the area, he said. The cross-border e-commerce trade platform has been in operation and it will greatly facilitate trade between China and Mid-East countries, Ma added.

We have developed textile, new energy, new material, aviation, big data, e-commerce, health care for the old and other modern services to accelerate economic restructuring over the past two years, according to Ma. In particular, Yinchuan International Business Incubator (IBI) featuring IT, bio-technology and commercialization of intellectual properties development has fostered Internet of things, e-commerce and cloud computing businesses. In 2014, it realized a main business income of 3.126 billion yuan and an online trade volume of 280 billion yuan, Ma invoked specific figures.

We also laid great emphasis on pollution control and environment management, Ma said. Until now, the afforestation area in Yinchuan has totaled 61 million hectares and the green coverage rate has reached 41.28 percent, he mentioned.

“On behalf of Yinchuan citizens, I welcome all the people both home and abroad to pay visits and make investments in the city,” said Ma finally.