URUMQI - The railway port of Horgos in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, which borders Kazakhstan, was officially opened Tuesday, local authorities said Wednesday.

With financial backing of 1.9 billion yuan ($289 million), the first stage of construction on the 90,000-square-meter port station has been completed, said Bai Yongfeng, director of the port station.

Horgos railway port began a restricted-operating period in 2012, now that it is fully open, the port expects a surge in cargo flow.

From December 2012, when a cross-border railway between China and Kazakhstan via Horgos opened, until April 2016, the import and export trade volume via the railway port of Horgos totaled $4 billion.

A passenger train route from Horgos to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, had transported 200,000 passengers as of May 2016 since it opened at the end of 2013.