Assessing the fabric of a 'new Silk Road'

Countries evaluate potential of a proposed economic belt that will revive memories of the ancient trade route, as He Na in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and Xue Chaohua in Lanzhou, Gansu province.

Mao Minhui, director of Shaanxi Jingyang Fuzhuan Tea Development Center, hadn't expected his 50-square-meter exhibition stand to attract so much interest from overseas visitors. He was also surprised to find that businesspeople from Central Asian countries appeared to be falling over themselves to talk to him at the Silk Road International Expo in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province.

"As tea is one of the favorite drinks for people from China's northwest, we target customers from the nearby western provinces and regions. However, the interest expressed by the people at the expo isn't really all that unusual; Fuzhuan tea was once one of the most important goods carried along the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, which began thousands of years ago. We hope to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the development of the proposed Silk Road Economic Belt to get our tea sold in countries along the route," he said.