BEIJING, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang-Uighur region will lead Beijing's effort for greater cooperation with Eurasian nations, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said.
Li spoke at the opening of the weeklong China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, capital of the ethnically-tense region. The opening was attended by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and leaders and executives from other Eurasian nations.
Beijing has been battling rising violence in Xinjiang-Uighur, home to the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs who resent being ruled by Han Chinese. The region is close to Pakistan and several central and west Asian countries.
"Our goal is to give full play to Xinjiang's role as a bridgehead in the process and forge it into a major window and pillar of (China's) opening-up," Li said at the Expo, China Daily reported.
Zardari's visit comes in the wake of last month's violence in the Xinjiang cities of Kashgar and Hotan which left at least 40 dead. The Kashgar violence has been blamed on Islamic extremists trained in Pakistan, which is a close ally of China.
Li said increased engagement with countries in the Eurasian heartland is an important part of China's overall opening-up.
"Looking to the future, we will accelerate the opening-up of the interior and border regions as well," Li said, adding the Chinese government plans to implement a number of favorable tax, infrastructure and resources development policies in Xinjiang.
He said the government also wants to speed up the setting up of special economic zones and encourage the use of yuan in cross-border trade and investment, China Daily reported.
"We support the comprehensive development of a trade route in Eurasia, which is beneficial for most countries in the region as they have no direct access to the sea," said Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva.
