Businesses on a new journey to the west

Xu Fenglin fell in love with Kashgar the moment he arrived in 2012. "I immediately began persuading my family to move here with me, and we are now officially residents," he said.

The 36-year-old used to work in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, a pilot city for China's reform and opening-up policy that was transformed from a fishing village to one of China's richest cities in a mere 30 years. Xu is now deputy director of the Kashgar Special Economic Zone's administrative commission.

Like Xu, 34-year-old Ye Liwei also quit a well-paid job in Shenzhen, but he came to Kashgar to work in a real estate company.