If the investors materialise, Mehmet Yusup will be prepared. The 45-year-old has spent Rmb15m ($2.2m) building the largest restaurant in China's westernmost city, a four-storey palace adorned with traditional carpentry and chambers laden with the region's colourful carpets.

He and many others hope that the Chinese government's plans to make Kashgar a special economic zone will trigger a flood of investment from other Chinese provinces.

After ethnic riots in Xinjiang a year ago killed almost 200 people and shattered the illusion of peaceful integration of this restive region dominated by the Turkic Uighur people, the Communist party pondered a policy response for months. Finally, last month it said it would pursue “leapfrog development” for the region. The government pledged to double investment in the oil and gas-rich region over the coming five years.