The provincial seat of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Urumqi is Xinjiang’s political, economic and cultural center, important gateway for West China to open up to the outside. Situated in the geographic center of Asian continent, Urumqi acts as the bridge tower for the west portion of the new Eurasian Land Bridge. Urumqi’s economy grew at a stable and relatively fast speed, with the economy aggregate surpassing the 100-billion benchmark. In 2008, Urumqi’s GDP totaled RMB 102 billion. The population of permanent residents amounts to 2.08 million, with a per capita GDP of RMB 49,038.

乌鲁木齐，是中国新疆维吾尔自治区的首府，是新疆政治、经济、文化的中心，中国西部对外开放的重要门户，是新欧亚大陆桥中国西段的桥头堡，地处亚洲大陆地理中心。国民经济保持平稳较快增长，经济总量跃过千亿元大关。2008年全年实现地区生产总值（GDP）1020亿元。常住人口208万,人均GDP为49038元.

Urumqi is known as the “pear in west China”. It has distinct location advantages and relatively big market potentials. It is not only the biggest commodity distribution center in Xinjiang, but also an important distribution center of import/export trade in the Central Asian Region. It has become an important platform for investors in the world to penetrate the central Asian market. As the land transportation hub for China to connect with the central Asian regions and even Europe, Urumqi, today, has become the important window for China to broaden it open door to the west and conduct foreign economic and cultural exchanges. For the four key geological elements of developed commercial and trade cities in the world, namely along coast, border, river and trafficline, Rrumqi has the advantage of being not only along borders, but also along trafficlines. These are the biggest geographic advantages for Xinjiang as well as Urumqi in the development of the west.

乌鲁木齐被誉为“中国西部明珠”。区位优势明显，市场潜力较大。乌鲁木齐不仅是新疆最大的商品集散地，而且是中亚地区重要的进出口贸易集散地，已成为世界投资者开拓中亚市场的重要平台。乌鲁木齐是中国连接中亚地区乃至欧洲的陆路交通枢纽，现已成为中国扩大向西开放、开展对外经济文化交流的重要窗口。在世界商贸发达城市所占有的沿海、沿边、沿河、沿线四大地理要素中，乌鲁木齐即占沿边之利，又得沿线之益，这是新疆、也是乌鲁木齐在西部大开发中最大的地理优势。