Xinjiang Transportation

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Xinjiang has a highway with a total mileage of 144, 000km, with Urumqi as the center and seven National roads as the framework, connecting gansu and Qinghai provinces in the east, all countries in Central Asia and South Asia in the west, and Tibet in the south. It joints 68 provincial roads and connects with the road networks of cities and towns in Xinjiang. Xinjiang owns 16 airports and 141 airlines, which has formed an air transportation network connecting 52 domestic large and medium sized cities, 21 countries and 31 overseas cities(regions), with air traffic mileage of 130,000 km.

Highway transportation is the main way for connecting Xinjiang with its surrounding countries. Kirghizstan is mountainous, so its railway transportation is undeveloped and highway is the main mode of transportation. Its highway is mainly directed to China, Kazakhstan and the connecting areas of fergana ValleyVumar who does consignment work between Xinjiang and Kirghizstan told me.

There are mainly two roads connecting Xinjiang and the neighboring country Kirghizstan. One is the road from Kashgar in Xinjiang to Bishkek, capital of Kirghizstan via torugart port with an overall length of 560km the other is the road from Kashgar to Osh, a city in the south of Kirghizstan, by way of Irkeshtam Port, with a total length of about 800km. In 2005, the quantity of cargos transported on the two roads was up to 260,000 tons and 310,000 tons respectively and the number of entry-exit people reached 8, 160 and 3, 160 respectively through Torugart Port and Irkeshtam Port on the border between China and Kirghizstan China and Kirghizstan also reached an agreement on the road reconstruction project along Osh-Koli cha-Sarytash-Irkeshtam Port, which will improve the road transportation condition from South Xinjiang to Southern Kirghizstan and subsequently improve the highway channel conditions from Uzbekistan and tajikistan and other Central asian countries to China as there is no direct border land port between Xinjiang and Uzbekistan, goods from Xinjiang to Uzbekistan are mainly transited by way of Kirghizstan.