Editor's note: During his visit to Kazakhstan in September, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that China and Central Asia join hands to build a Silk Road economic belt to boost cooperation. The idea has been widely echoed in Central Asian countries, becoming an encouraging blueprint for Chinese areas along the Silk Road that has linked Asia and Europe for more than 2,000 years. In the next three weeks, China Daily reporters will travel through the belt in China and in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. They will show the progress and expectations of the countries, businesses and peoples on the route.

Shaanxi - the start of the ancient Silk Road - has positioned itself as the new starting point for the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt, which will strengthen China's cooperation with Central Asian countries, a senior official said.

Shaanxi Governor Lou Qinjian said the province is fresh, rich and unique, as it was when it anchored one end of the ancient Silk Road.

"It is the best option for accommodating industrial transfers from East China or the world at large," he said on Wednesday in Xi'an.

Lou held a joint interview with 27 media, including China Daily, the first in a series of interviews entitled Chinese Media Along the Silk Road. The interviews will be in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey.

The media group held the first interview on Wednesday morning in Xi'an, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, a trade channel established more than 2,000 years ago linking China, Central Asia and Europe.

The interview trip will record stories about the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and promote its construction, said Li Xiangping, a senior official of the Information Office of the State Council.

In September, President Xi Jinping proposed the strategic concept of jointly constructing the Silk Road Economic Belt along the ancient Silk Road. The idea has been repeated and praised both at home and abroad.

The Silk Road Economic Belt covers areas with a total population of nearly 3 billion.

"With years of effort, Shaanxi has increasingly improved its transportation network with 17 national expressways passing through its territory, and Xi'an has become one of the eight railway and aviation hubs in China," Lou said.

Shaanxi has China's first international land port, Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park, in which the Xi'an Comprehensive Bonded Zone was established with the approval of the State Council on Feb 14, 2011, Lou said.

After becoming provincial governor last year, Lou chose Kazakhstan as his first, and to date only, foreign visit.

The train of Chang'an, the first international cargo train running from Xi'an to Kazakhstan, was officially put into operation on Nov 28. It was also the first freight train running directly from inland Shaanxi to Central Asia.

"The freight train provided a logistics corridor for inland Shaanxi to Central Asia and Europe, and laid the foundation for our province to build itself a key international land transit hub along the Silk Road Economic Belt," Lou said.

Contact the writer at luhongyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/22/2014 page5)