Will China’s rail link between Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan change the great power rivalry in Central Asia?

Lying in China’s far west, between one of the world’s highest mountain ranges and largest deserts, the city of Kashgar has long been touted as the “Shenzhen of the West” – referring to the country’s most famous boom town, on the border of Hong Kong.

Bordered by Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, the city was once an important trading hub on the Silk Road. But recent attempts to revive its fortunes, including by designating it a “special economic zone” 12 years ago, have come to little.