China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Building Railway Bypassing Russia

• 28.12.2024, 8:41

The highway will allow goods to be delivered from China to the countries of the European Union.

The process of building a railway that will connect China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan bypassing Russia has begun. The highway will allow goods to be delivered from China through Central Asia to the countries of the European Union.

This was reported by the Tazabek publication.

At the ceremony to start construction of the road on December 27 in Kyrgyzstan, the country's President Sadyr Japarov said that the new railway will not only be a strategic facility, but also a link between the West and the East.

“The new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway corridor will become a branch of the southern bridge of the Eurasian continent and will open access to the markets of Western Asia and the Middle East. This route will allow goods to be delivered from China to Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia, and from there to Turkey and further to the European Union,” Japarov said.

He also added that the project will help strengthen regional ties and diversify transport routes, which will increase the region's competitiveness as a transport transit hub.

Project Features

The railway will run from the city of Kashgar in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China through Torugart, Makmal and Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan to Andijan in Uzbekistan.

In the future, the highway is planned to be connected with other Central Asian countries. From there, cargo will be transported to the Caspian Sea in Turkey and Europe.

The total cost of the project is $4.7 billion. The investment agreement was signed on December 20 in Bishkek between the government of Kyrgyzstan and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Company. Beijing's share in the joint venture is 51%, while Bishkek and Tashkent have 24.5% each.

The projected transportation volume is set at 15 million tons. The highway is expected to reduce the delivery time of cargo from China to Europe by seven days.