By Qi Li

Themed “Xinjiang Is a Won- derful Land—Technology， Innovation and Development”， the Xinjiang Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai officially opened on November 11， 2021. With its main venue in Urumqi， the event was broadcasted live to a global audience by adopting both online and offline means， including a video link to Dubai. It launched a total of five activities， including an opening ceremony integrating online and offline sections， an online tour of the pavilions， contract signing for enterprises， promotional presentations and exhibitions.

Chen Jianan， Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade （CCPIT）， said that Xinjiang is a channel for cultural exchanges between the East and the West， an important node of the ancient Silk Road， and the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Therefore， Xinjiang has obvious geographical advantages and broad development prospects for Belt and Road Initiative cooperation. The success of this Xinjiang Day will bring more opportunities for Xinjiang to enrich its experience as a carrier of openness to the outside world and to enhance the level of opening up to the outside world.

Chen Weijun， a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee and executive vice governor of the region， explained that Xinjiang is located in the geometric center of Asia and Europe and is a key node in the Asia-Pacific economic circle and the European economic circle. With its vast territory， abundant resources， beautiful scenery， magnificent mountains and rivers and splendid culture， Xinjiang acts as the“Asia-Europe Continental Bridge”， is an important channel for economic and cultural exchanges between East and West， and plays a very important role in promoting the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ni Jian， Chinese Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates， explained that in recent years， Xinjiang is currently enjoying social stability， with people living and working together in peace and contentment， people from all ethnic groups treating each other as family， fully enjoying their rights to survival and development， etc. As such， the awareness of the Chinese national community has been further enhanced. With the continuous promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative and the flourishing exchanges and cooperation between countries along the Silk Road， Xinjiang， as the pearl of northwest China， will surely shine brilliantly and make greater contributions to the deepening of China-Arab pragmatic cooperation.

At the signing ceremony which took place after the opening ceremony， there were several contracts signed totaling an amount of more than tens of millions of dollars， including cooperation agreements between companies in Urumqi and companies from Russia， Dubai， and Kazakhstan.

At the on-site exhibition hall， the remote exhibition hall was built by making full use of scientific and technological means and diversified display forms， focusing on the high-quality development of Xinjiangs economy， the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt， the top ten characteristic industries， the development of science and technology， cultural tourism and representative enterprises in Xinjiang.