In 2014, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region's GDP was 275.2 billion yuan ($44.3 billion), registering a year-on-year growth of 8 percent. 

The local government of Ningxia is planning further substantial development following Chinese President Xi Jinping's announcement of a new Silk Road Economic Belt initiative that will revive and modernize as well as extend the ancient trade route that ran from Xi'an in the east to the Mediterranean in the west, and a 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

Wang Heshan, vice chairman of the regional government, said in an exclusive interview that the Yinchuan Hedong International Airport, the region's main gateway to the outside world, is being extended. A third new terminal is under construction whose completion will boost air traffic. "We call it the aerial Silk Road," Wang said. 

Ningxia is also boosting its e-commerce, the "Online Silk Road", focusing on trade with Arab countries. An important step in that is the Yinchuan International Business Incubator that has over 360 enterprises. Many are dedicated to cross-border e-trade, like ubuymore.com, which sells commodities through Chinese, Arabic and English portals. Wang said e-commerce giants Alibaba and Amazon are building bases in Ningxia. 

Ningxia has been chosen for the first inland economic pilot area that would be modeled along the lines of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone. The initiative, Wang said, would introduce investment-friendly policies and ease red tape for investors, making registration easier.

In addition, Ningxia would step up the construction of a network of roads. They will connect different provinces and extend to neighboring countries like Mongolia.