China-EU freight train, carrying juice, plastic products and daily necessities, pulls out of the station at Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, heading to Khorgas in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on February 22. Photo: cnsphoto

The ongoing riots in Kazakhstan have sparked concerns on cargo from China, as the country, which is beside Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been an important transfer hub from China via the China-Europe express trains to Central Asia, Russia, and as far as other European countries. 

Sources from Customs and freight agencies told the Global Times that the China-Europe freight-train service is going smooth so far, although there is some low efficiency, but air cargo is quickly declining because of the current situation, and cargo flight between the two will be suspended in the next week. 

A source from Khorgas Customs, one of the most important hubs from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan, told the Global Times on Friday that China-Europe freight-train service is normal, with no backlog.

The Urumqi Customs in Xinjiang also confirmed with the Global Times on Thursday night that everything is normal for China-Europe express trains passing through Xinjiang.

But there were some disruptions earlier this month following the riots. 

"I had 42 containers originally planned to be transported by the China-Europe express train from Urumqi to Kazakhstan, but the train was cancelled on Tuesday," an anonymous insider from a freight agency in Xinjiang told the Global Times on Friday.

He said he had to transfer the cabinets to the highway, so they left from Kashi port in Xinjiang, then passed through Kyrgyzstan, and then entered Kazakhstan, which raised the transportation cost to more than 3 million yuan ($470,374) and the delay time was more than double.

Global Times learned that the poor transportation of goods started on January 4, which affected the China-Europe Railway Express to some extent, especially in the network. Due to the complete suspension of the network in Kazakhstan, there was no network in the railway station, which suspended some customs clearance procedures.

A source from Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province told the Global Times on Friday that the operation of China-Europe freight train there is normal, and the railway network has now been restored, only to be affected by internet stoppage that delays paperwork. "The returning goods are also being received as scheduled," the source said.

Although the railways' network has been restored, Kazakh Customs does not receive the goods normally, and the operation efficiency is low, the Xinjiang freight agency said. 

China has been busy exploring the China-Europe freight transport for years. The first China-Central Asia freight train from Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong Province to Almaty, Kazakhstan left Guangzhou on December 12.
 
Loaded with a variety of household appliances, hardware products, daily necessities worth $1.7 million, the 100 containers on the freight train will exit China via the Khorgas port and arrive in Central Asia in 14 days.

Data from Kazlogistics showed that from January to October 2021, Kazakhstan completed 19.5 million tons of transit cargo, an increase of 3.7 percent over the same period in 2020. Among them, the container transport volume of China-Europe express trains was 604,500 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units, a year-on-year increase of 36.4 percent.

However, air cargo transport has declined dramatically after the riots in the city compared to the previous month, which threatens the cargo business.

In December 2021, there were 75 direct cargo flights from China to Kazakhstan, but the number declined to eight in the first six days to January 6, data from industry information provider VariFlight sent to the Global Times on Friday showed. 

Cargo flights have been suspended in next week, VariFlight said. 

Almaty Airport carries 68 percent of Kazakhstan's aviation logistics and is the country's largest international aviation hub.

In June 2021, an all-cargo plane flew from Novosibirsk, Russia to Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, and then to Almaty with more than 20 tons of electronic parts and mechanical parts. This was Qingdao's first all-cargo flight route to Central Asian countries.

It only takes five hours flying from Qingdao to Almaty, compared to a train from Qingdao to Kazakhstan in 11 days.

Official data showed that in the first 10 months of 2021, trade between China and Kazakhstan reached $20.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent. 

China continued to maintain its status as Kazakhstan's second largest trading partner and became Kazakhstan's largest export destination for the first time.