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Tax-free trade centre to open at border
A zero-tax trade centre will soon come into operation on the border between China and Kazakhstan.
Dai Gongxing, deputy chairman of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said on Friday the centre, in the region's border town of Korgas, is close to being finished.
Dai made the announcement prior to Monday's foreign ministers meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) in Shanghai, of which both China and Kazakhstan are members.
Other members of the SCO are Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.
Next month, presidents of SCO member countries will gather in Shanghai, with regional trade and economic co-operation topping their agenda.
"The centre will not only benefit China and Kazakhstan, but also other countries in the region," said Dai.
Covering about 4.63 square kilometres, the China-Kazakhstan Korgas International Border Co-operation Centre will further promote economic and trade ties between the two countries, said the official.
China has provided 1.2 square kilometres, with Kazakhstan contributing 3.43 square kilometres for the centre.
"All the deals done in the centre will be free of tax," said Dai, who did not give details about exactly when it would open.
Near the centre, China has constructed an industrial zone to produce products for trade.
Citizens of China, Kazakhstan and other countries, and commodities and vehicles are free to cross the border within the zone.
The free trade zone was arranged by President Hu Jintao and his Kazakhstan counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev in a joint declaration last July.
At that time, both sides agreed to step up preparations for the construction of the centre and put it into operation as quickly as possible.
To promote Xinjiang as a top international trade centre for Central Asia, the autonomous region has organized a foreign trade fair each year in Urumqi, the regional capital, for the past 14 years.
This year, Dai said the fair was scheduled to take place from September 1.
A long list of investment projects, totalling US$7 billion, related to energy, agriculture and the environment are open for overseas and domestic investors, said Dai.
With a border of more than 5,600 kilometres, Xinjiang neighbours eight countries and has 17 designated foreign trade centres.
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