According to the Customs of Urumqi Tianshan International Airport in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in the first two months, the customs supervised 14,000 tons of inbound and outbound cargo, a year-on-year increase of 36.7 percent; it also oversaw 1,922 inbound and outbound aircraft movements, up 13.6 percent year-on-year.

Photo taken on March 30, 2026 shows officers from the Customs of Urumqi Tianshan International Airport inspect goods bound for export at the airport's international cargo warehouse. (Photo by Liu Feihu)

Expansion of the air route network has provided strong support for cargo growth. At present, Urumqi Tianshan International Airport operates 30 international cargo routes, connecting 22 countries and 30 cities, forming a modern air logistics network covering Central Asia and extending to Europe. Among them, the Urumqi–Zurich (Switzerland) cargo route, which resumed service in January and was increased to four weekly flights, has built an efficient and stable air corridor for China-Europe cross-border trade, ensuring transport capacity for cross-border business operations.

Increased flight frequencies have boosted transport capacity, driving up demand for high-time-sensitivity shipments such as small-batch, high-frequency cross-border e-commerce parcels and specialty agricultural products from Xinjiang. The structure of export goods continues to upgrade: traditional goods including clothing and daily necessities maintain steady demand, forming a solid foundation for cargo growth; meanwhile, mechanical equipment, electromechanical products and cross-border e-commerce parcels have seen surging demand, becoming new growth drivers. In addition, Xinjiang's specialty agricultural products, including fresh cut flowers, raisins and red dates, are shipped "direct from origin to overseas" via efficient customs clearance channels, with an increasingly diverse export portfolio.

Efficient air logistics corridors have energized foreign trade enterprises. Feng Hailiang, business director of Xinjiang Wanshengtong Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., noted that fresh cut flowers and red dates previously took a long time to reach Europe with high damage rates. Now, through Urumqi's air cargo corridors, products arrive at consumers in much fresher condition, significantly enhancing the company's market competitiveness.

To ensure smooth air cargo operations, the Customs of Urumqi Tianshan International Airport has targeted pain points in customs clearance and rolled out measures such as priority inspection and accelerated release, enabling "on-arrival processing" for goods. Leveraging the airport's airside advantages, it has realized "airside direct access" for export cargo, established an information exchange module, promoted paperless documentation and data sharing, and ensured the efficient flow of goods throughout the process.

Liu Jingyi, deputy chief of the Customs of Urumqi Tianshan International Airport stated that the customs will continue to focus on route operations and corporate needs, and refine facilitation measures including 24/7 appointment-based customs clearance and "direct pickup at the tarmac" to achieve "inspection upon arrival and release upon completion of inspection" for goods, supporting Xinjiang in building a golden China-Europe air logistics corridor.

Moving forward, the customs will cater to the needs of diversified trade forms, deepen regulatory and service innovations, ensure the high-quality operation of new routes, and strengthen Urumqi's role as a China-Europe air logistics hub, providing stronger logistics support for Xinjiang to develop as the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

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