China Southern Airlines Co, the country's largest carrier by fleet, expects its hubs in Guangzhou and Urumqi to be strengthened by the country's "One Belt, One Road" initiatives.

The action plan on these initiatives issued late last month calls for international hub airports such as Shanghai and Guangzhou to assume additional functions, said Guo Jianye, director of the marketing committee of the airline, which is listed in Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York.

With its role as a window of westward opening-up, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, of which Urumqi is the capital, will become a core area on the Silk Road Economic Belt.