China and Kyrgyzstan Photo:VCG

Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev said that the planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) Railway is of strategic importance, and he hoped the governments of the three countries could reach an agreement quickly and start its construction soon.

During his meeting with Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday, Kulubaev highly praised the Kyrgyzstan-China relationship. He welcomed more Chinese enterprises to invest in Kyrgyzstan and vowed to provide a safe and convenient business environment for Chinese companies. 

The railway has been planned for at least 25 years. As early as 1997, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a railway linking the three countries.

According to plan, the total length of the CKU railway lasts 523 kilometers, including 213 kilometers in China, 260 kilometers in Kyrgyzstan and 50 kilometers in Uzbekistan, which will become the southern part of China-Europe freight rail, and link China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan with Central and Eastern Europe via Iran and Turkey.

Wang said during the meeting with Kulubaev at the SCO Foreign Ministers Council Meeting held at Astana, Kazakhstan, that China-Kyrgyzstan relationship has been elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, and a new development direction of bilateral relationship has been determined. 

Led by the top leaders of the two countries, the China-Kyrgyzstan relationship has maintained strong momentum, especially for trade in agricultural products and new-energy vehicles, as well as a range of infrastructure programs, Wang said, noting that China is ready to promote economic and trade cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, expand mutual connectivity and communication and enhance people-to-people exchanges. 

According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China and Kyrgyzstan in 2022 July signed medium- and long-term economic cooperation and trade exchange plan spanning to 2030. In the first four months of 2024, China-Kyrgyzstan bilateral trade exceeded $6 billion, up 21.2 percent year-on-year.

Global Times