Horgos port records sharp growth in passenger and cargo traffic from Jan-April

Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Lu Fengbao) news: It is learned from the Horgos Port International Road Transport Bureau on May 18, 2026, that in the first four months of the year, passenger traffic at the Horgos road port reached 292,200 passenger trips, an increase of 33 percent compared with the same period last year. Cargo volume reached 679,100 tons, up 20 percent year on year. Both passenger and cargo traffic saw significant growth.

Passengers board an international road transport vehicle at the Horgos International Coach Station in Horgos City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on May 17, 2026. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Lu Fengbao)

As high-quality Belt and Road cooperation continues to deepen, Xinjiang's opening up to the outside world has been expanding in both depth and breadth. Horgos has fully leveraged its geographical advantages. In recent years, cross border passenger and cargo traffic at the port has maintained steady growth.

On May 17, at the Horgos Port international road transport inspection hall, foreign truck drivers were seen queuing up to complete vehicle entry procedures. Each driver finished the process within one minute. They then returned to the inspection yard to drive their vehicles across the border and unload their goods.

"Freight volume has continued to rise this year. In the first four months, 94,500 cross border freight vehicles passed through the port, an increase of 14.7 percent year on year. The cargo volume reached 679,100 tons, up 20 percent," said Zhang Jun, deputy Party secretary and deputy director of the Horgos Port International Road Transport Bureau.

At the departure area of the Horgos International Road Passenger Station, international passenger buses stood parked in neat rows. Some passengers were loading their luggage, while others had already boarded and taken their seats.

"Since the beginning of this year, the passenger station has dispatched 90,000 outbound travelers, an increase of 18 percent compared with the same period last year," said Zhang Jing, head of the ticket office at the Horgos International Road Passenger Station.

To cope with the growing passenger and cargo traffic at the land port, the Horgos Port International Road Transport Bureau has streamlined its inspection procedures by moving some checks forward and others backward.

The original 10 on site inspection items have been reduced to three core checks, including vehicle and qualification verification. This has made it possible for vehicles to be inspected and cleared as soon as they arrive. The inspection time per vehicle has been cut from five minutes to one minute, greatly improving passage speed.

At the same time, the bureau has fully implemented online processing for cross border transport documents. Permits for international road transport, as well as freight and passenger waybills, can now be applied for and completed online 24 hours a day. This means data runs through the system while businesses need to make fewer trips. The average processing time for a single document is just 45 seconds, significantly reducing labor and time costs for companies.

"We will continue to accelerate the development of a smart port, further optimize customs clearance procedures, improve regulatory efficiency, upgrade services for travelers, and steadily enhance the convenience of passenger and cargo clearance at the port. All these efforts are aimed at supporting high-quality opening up at Horgos Port," Zhang Jun said.

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