The first land port of entry between China and Tajikistan opened on Tuesday, creating easy access for trade between the two countries.

The Karasu Port is 236 kilometers from Kashi city in southern Xinjiang. Opening of the port brought the total number of land ports in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to 17.

The port will be open from May 1 to Oct. 31 every year. During this period, Chinese cargo vehicles in Xinjiang can directly reachKhorog City of Tajikistan.

Since China forged diplomatic ties with Tajikistan on Jan. 4, 1992, bilateral economic and trade cooperation maintained steady growth. China-produced rice and fruit can be seen in many farm produce markets in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan.

However, the price of farm produce sold in Tajikistan is two orthree times more than that in China because Chinese commodities had to reach Tajikistan through a third country.

Sharipov Mirzo, an official of the Tajic commerce representative office in China, said that the operation of the Karasu Port is sure to promote economic and trade contacts between the two countries.

Xinjiang has 17 ports of entry, which handled a total of 8.75 million tons of cargo in 2003. The figure will climb to 1,000 tons this year.

The autonomous region has so far opened ports bordering Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. It is negotiating with relevant departments of Russia on opening a port on the Sino-Russian border.