One of China's most beautiful roads, the Duku Highway in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, opened on Saturday to traffic following an eight-month closure, the first day of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
The 561-kilometer Duku Highway that runs through the majestic Tianshan Mountains is only open from around June to October every year. It is temporarily closed every winter due to increased snowfall and road icing.
The highway connects Dushanzi in the north of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Kuqa City in the south, running through varied landscapes that include canyons, glaciers, lakes and grasslands.
Kuqa City held a ceremony to mark the traffic resumption, and long streams of vehicles including cars and RVs from around the country started filing past numerous breathtaking scenic spots along the Duku Highway.
"I'm 70 years old. And I'll seize the opportunity to travel in southern and northern Xinjiang. They say one can enjoy scenery of the four seasons along the Duku Highway," said a tourist named Shi Gufeng.
Local government has been improving infrastructure and services along the highway, setting up new service centers for tourists, and building medical facilities and charging piles for electric vehicles.
"We are working around the clock to help tourists who need assistance. And we are carrying out drone patrols to ensure smooth and safe traffic on the highway," said Liang Wenju, a traffic police officer.
Scenic Duku Highway in Xinjiang opens to traffic after seasonal closure
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
