Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao addresses the second China-Eurasia Economic Development and Cooperation Forum and the opening ceremony of the second China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 2, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, former Dutch prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende, former British prime minister Tony Blair and other top international leaders arrived in Urumqi, capital of China's far-west Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sunday for the opening ceremony of China-Eurasia Expo 2012.

This week, the city will see a large number of delegations from across the European and Asian continents attending hundreds of exhibitions which aim to promote steady development, multilateral cooperation and economic stability throughout the Eurasian region. This year's Expo bears the theme "Harmonious Development and Win-Win Cooperation."

Additionally, the 2012 Expo will promote investment in a new project to create a modern version of the ancient Silk Road, the historical network of trade routes that connected Asia with Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

In 1999, China implemented its "West China Development" program to boost the region's growth in petrochemicals, oil and gas, transportation, telecommunication, finance, and insurance, allowing Xinjiang to develop at a galloping pace.

In his opening speech, Premier Wen Jiabao expressed his strong wish for mutual respect between the region's nations in order to achieve shared growth and safeguard regional stability. The Eurasian region is currently very promising in terms of its potential to further open up its market and speed up the development of multilateral trade agreements, ensuring a free flow of personnel, goods and capital, he said.

Aside from the economic aspect, the region would in turn benefit form the exchange of culture between its nations, Wen said. He stressed the hazards of economic development as well, calling for the support for struggling countries in the region and urging these countries to develop at their own pace.

Wen emphasized that in the end it is still the people who will build the ‘new Silk Road' towards development. Governments are therefore merely obligated to provide beneficial measures for them to do so, he said.

Also speaking during the opening ceremony were Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming, Blair, Balkenende, Almazbek Atambayev, president of the Kyrgyz Republic, Akil Akilov, prime minister of Tajikistan, and Karim Khalili, vice president of Afghanistan, among a dozen others. Leaders emphasized that despite the ongoing financial crisis, the Eurasian region carries the potential to recreate the economic glory of the old Silk Road by working together to further open up the regional market.

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