Trucks depart Xinjiang for Russia on trial of new highway

"Under the guidance of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Russia's Eurasian Economic Union and Mongolia's Prairie Road vision, this route can be considered as a concrete measure to build the China-Mongolian-Russia Economic Corridor," said Xuan Dengdian, a Ministry of Transport senior official.

Xinjiang has pioneered developing cross-border transport with China's neighboring countries for a more convenient and smooth international trading environment, and the region has opened 118 routes with five of its eight neighbors.

Li Menghan in Beijing and Lu Rui in Xinjiang contributed to this story.