Baketu Border Port in Xinjiang

Baketu Border Port (巴克图口岸) belongs to Tacheng City, Tacheng Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China [2]. It is located 12 kilometers southwest of the city center, at the junction of the border between China and the Republic of Kazakhstan, with a national second-class highway directly connecting to it. It is the closest border port to cities in Xinjiang and also the nearest port to Urumqi.

Location
Baketu Border Port is located within Tacheng Prefecture, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, at approximately 82°48′ east longitude and 46°41′ north latitude, at an elevation of 460-480 meters. Across from Baketu Border Port is the East Kazakhstan Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. From Baketu Border Port, it is 17 kilometers to Tacheng City and 621 kilometers to Urumqi when entering China; when exiting to Kazakhstan, it is 800 meters to Baketu Border Port on the Kazakh side, 60 kilometers to Makanchi Town, 110 kilometers to Ulgur Airport, and 250 kilometers to Ayakkus Station.

Leaving the city of Tacheng, traveling along a straight and wide border road westward for 12 kilometers, you will reach the Baketu border port, a border crossing between China and Kazakhstan. This is the closest border port to cities in Xinjiang. Connected to Tacheng City in the east, it is 60 kilometers west of Makanchi Town in Kazakhstan. The open and flat grasslands are dotted with flowers, with distant green mountains on both sides, and the villages appear faintly, peaceful and serene. Because it is close to the suburbs, the buildings at Baketu Border Port are few but well-constructed. The national gate outpost is imposing and solemn, and the modern inspection hall is spacious and bright, with vehicles lined up in queues at the five cargo inspection channels, all busy and orderly.

Climate
Baketu Border Port covers an area of ​​1 square kilometer, at an elevation of 460-480 meters. The surrounding terrain is flat with lush vegetation. The average annual temperature is 5.4-6.5°C, with a maximum temperature of 38.3°C and a frost-free period of 114 days. Summers have large temperature differences, with cool nights, while winters are not extremely cold, with mild winters and cool summers.

Baketu Border Port has a history of trade for 200 years and is a key transportation route from western China to Central Asia and Europe. In the 33rd year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign (1907), there were 291 Russian merchants (numbers, companies) and 3,840 people in Tacheng, with a significant increase in Russian business, and numerous foreign companies. Trade and personnel exchanges were interrupted in the 1960s. In the autumn of 1988, with the support of the local governments of China and Kazakhstan, border officials broke the nearly thirty-year blockade through visits by government officials. In 1990, Baketu Border Port reopened temporarily for goods and passengers. In June 1992, the state approved Tacheng City as a city for further opening along the border, granting various preferential policies. On March 14, 1994, it was approved by the state as a first-class port.

Tourism within the area
Baketu Border Port has become a new tourist hotspot in Tacheng City.
The administrative location of Tacheng Prefecture. Located on the northern edge of the Ta (City) E (Min) Basin, at the southern foot of the Tarbahatay Mountains, it borders Kazakhstan to the west and north. There are tourist attractions such as the Mancheng ruins, Suijingcheng ruins, Shuangta ruins, Asildar Mongolian Township, and Baketu Border Port. Natural landscapes include the Weiren Mountain, the great bustard breeding ground, the Kulusutai grassland, and the Taerbahatay summer pasture.

Traffic and trade
Baketu Border Port is conveniently located. The port itself is at the zero kilometer mark of National Highway 217. From here, you can travel to various places in Xinjiang and also reach other provinces and regions in China via Urumqi. There is an airport and air route. Kazakhstan’s Ulgur Airport is just over 110 kilometers away. Heading west from the exit port, you will reach the Turis Railway Hub of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Ayagus City Railway Station in Kazakhstan. With excellent trade conditions, Baketu Border Port is the most convenient port connecting Russia and Central Asian countries in China, known as the “Gateway to Zungharia” and the “Central Asian Trade Corridor”.

The port radiates to eight provinces and ten industrial cities in Russia and Kazakhstan. These are key developing cities in Russia and Kazakhstan, with concentrated populations, convenient transportation, a good heavy industrial base, strong complementarity with our economy, and great market potential. Over the past ten years of its opening, Baketu Border Port has handled 780,000 tons of goods, with a total import and export value of 4.403 billion yuan, more than 100,000 inbound and outbound tourists, and a tourism shopping amount of 2.735 billion yuan. From January to March 2001, Baketu Border Port completed a trade volume of USD 22 million, an increase of 43.39% compared to the same period in 2000. The opening of the port has greatly promoted urban construction, transportation, and communication development in Tacheng City, injecting new vitality into the economic prosperity of Tacheng Prefecture.