Ganquanpu Economic and Technological Development Zone
The Ganquanpu Economic and Technological Development Zone sits at North Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 55 kilometers away from downtown. It was approved by the State Council as a State-level economic and technological development zone on Sep 15, 2012. With a planned area of 3.6 million square kilometers, the development zone will have a population of 400,000 in 2020.
The zone, focusing on the development of new energy and natural resources, has been one of the key industrial zones with a new construction mode in Xinjiang. It enjoys an advantageous location as well as water and soil resources. It has a sophisticated transportation network that links the zone with the surrounding areas, including a rail line that connects Urumqi and Junggar Basin with a Xiao Huangshan feeder line, national highway 216, Turpan-Urumqi-Da Huangshan highway as well as a light rail and a ring road that are under planning. It also has a rail freight yard and special rail lines inside the zone. Most of the land inside the zone, including desert grasses, has not yet been developed. There are seven nearby reservoirs.
As of April 2018, 18 new and renewed projects had started construction while the construction of more than 11 projects had been finished. At the same time, new registered companies in the zone totaled 120 -- anticipated to reach 150 by the end of the year-- with a contractual amount of 18 billion yuan ($2.66 billion). Another 30 projects have been reached with preliminary cooperation agreements that could be valued at a minimum of 34 billion yuan.