Jimunai Port

Jimunai Port

Jimunai Port is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Jimunai Port is a border port between China and Kazakhstan, also situated at the intersection of China, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Mongolia, making it the most convenient passage for international trade between China and these three countries.

Jimunai Port is located in the western part of Jimunai County, Altay Prefecture, about 23 kilometers from the county seat. This area was once the site of the original Jimunai County town, featuring lush trees and beautiful scenery. The Ulast River, the boundary river between China and Kazakhstan, quietly flows by the port.

Jimunai Port is an old port with a history of over 100 years. In the early years of the Republic of China, it was one of the six routes from Xinjiang to Russia. In the sixth year of the Republic (1917), China and Russia established a postal exchange station here. In October 1931, the governments of China and the former Soviet Union officially opened Jimunai as a trading port and designated a free trade zone. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the port remained open until 1962. Thirty years later, in 1992, the Chinese government officially approved the reopening of Jimunai Port.

The eight years since the reopening of the port have injected new vitality into Jimunai’s economy and driven new social and economic development in the county. Jimunai County is a vast border county in northwestern China, located on the northern edge of the Junggar Basin, the northern foothills of the Sawuer Mountains, and the southern bank of the Irtysh River. It covers a total area of 8,222 square kilometers and has a population of 35,400. The residents consist of 16 ethnic groups, including Kazakh, Han, and Uyghur. The county features nine mountains, such as Sawuer, Maihabuchige, and Jiarilehafu, and four seasonal rivers: Ulast, Ulkun Ularsitu, Tast, and Harjiao. With mostly mountainous and grassland terrain, it is one of Xinjiang’s major pastoral counties. Agriculture is concentrated in the plains, with 10,600 hectares of arable land.

In the first year of its opening, Jimunai Port saw 7,139 inbound and outbound travelers, handled 22,000 tons of cargo, and achieved a total import and export value of 23.29 million RMB. In June 1996, the port was approved by the state to establish a border trade market, becoming a designated small-scale border trade port in the autonomous region. Small-scale border trade flourished, generating an additional 300,000 RMB in local tax revenue. The growing impact of the port prompted Jimunai County to adjust its economic development strategy to: “Lead with trade to promote comprehensive growth in industry, agriculture, and animal husbandry.”

Jimunai attracted investment. By 2000, more than ten border trade companies were registered in the county. Among them, one company had an annual import and export volume exceeding 10 million USD, and eight had volumes over 1 million USD. Loading and unloading work at the port and county cargo yards provided jobs for nearly 600 people. The county’s transportation, postal and telecommunications, catering, and service sectors in the tertiary industry also developed rapidly... Residents of Jimunai County opened shops in Zaisan City, Kazakhstan, marking the county’s first labor export, with personnel sent to Samal City and Ulan County in Kazakhstan to assist with vegetable farming.

Jimunai Port is not far from four major cities in the Russian Federation, including Novosibirsk, and is also relatively close to border cities in Mongolia. The prospects for import and export trade are very broad. As Jimunai Port continues to prosper, its driving effect on the economic and social development of Jimunai County will become increasingly significant.