An aerial photo shows a China-Europe freight train loaded with 55 containers of tea departs from Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on February 6, 2024. Photo: VCG

 
With the joint efforts of all parties, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is likely to commence construction in the upcoming months, according to media reports. This project, once completed, will further promote economic and trade development in Central Asia, transform the region's economic landscape and inject more certainties to the global trade, domestic and international experts said.

The launch of this landmark project under China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) once again confirms how the joint initiative has evolved from a Chinese proposal to an international framework, being translated from concept to action, experts said.

Construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is set to commence on August 25 of this year - according to an announcement made by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Okilbek Japarov at the inauguration of a hydropower station in the Chuy region, as reported by qalampir.uz, a local media outlet.

"This railway represents the shortest route from Shanghai to Paris and is projected to handle 15 million tons of cargo annually. We have completed the feasibility studies, and the project is expected to be self-sustaining within 15-20 years. Looking ahead, in 30 years, this railway could extend to the sea, enhancing our global trade," Japarov said.
 
Since the signing ceremony of the trilateral government agreement for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project in Beijing in June, this historic cooperative endeavor has garnered increasing attention.

Experts said that this railway project will facilitate Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan's transformation from "landlocked countries" to "land-linked countries," while serving as a more reliable and efficient transportation network, injecting more certainties into world trade.

In addition, this landmark project, upon its completion, is poised to become a model of regional cooperation under the BRI, injecting substantial momentum into the economic and social development of the three countries, Central Asia and beyond, experts said.

A reliable alternative

As an important corridor forming part of the ancient Silk Road, Central Asia's development has long been constrained by geographical conditions among other factors - despite being located in the heartland of Asia, there are no direct sea ports.

"Traditionally, their access to sea routes has been through Russia, leading to the Black Sea region... However, since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, various factors including Western sanctions have created transportation challenges for their goods and commodities,"  Zhang Hong, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday. He said that the growing complexity of the situation has hindered the regional countries' ability to engage with global economic entities, and further constraining the region's development.

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway begins in Kashgar, Xinjiang, and passes through Kyrgyzstan before entering Uzbekistan. Zhang said that the construction of this railway line will facilitate trade between Central Asia to China and deliver the goods from the region in a more efficient way to other parts of the world.

Additionally, the railway construction will attract more investment to Central Asia, promoting deeper involvement in regional economic integration and local economic projects, Zhang said.

"This transformation aims to shift them from being 'landlocked' countries to pivotal transportation hubs, a role that is becoming crucial for the entire region," Zhang noted.

The important role of this new railway network extends beyond a few countries to the entire region. Currently, global trade faces challenges such as geopolitical tensions including the Red Sea crisis, leading to high costs and risks impacting global shipping and freight. The new railway will provide a more diverse option for the global trade network, offering a reliable and secure alternative, Li Xin, director of the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told the Global Times.

Specifically, the northern route of the China-Europe freight train service, passing through Russia and Belarus to Europe, has been impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus, according to Li.

Meanwhile, the southern Maritime Silk Road route through the Red Sea to the Mediterranean also faces security challenges, necessitating longer detours via the Cape of Good Hope and significantly increasing operational costs.

Given this context, Li said that establishing international transport corridors across the Caspian Sea, including Kazakhstan's Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway extending toward Turkmenistan, could provide viable alternatives.

The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway corridor will also connect with the Trans-Caspian Corridor, providing Uzbekistan with the shortest route to Europe, according to media reports.

Exemplary model

Central Asia has been pivotal for the BRI, particularly since the Silk Road Economic Belt, an essential component of the initiative, was first proposed in 2013. Experts said that with the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan rail project, the BRI's emphasis on win-win cooperation and sustainable development will be further illustrated.

To Maryam Agharabi, research coordinator at China & Central Asia Studies Center, an organization based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this transnational railway project is an important, long-awaited, and highly anticipated development from various perspectives.

"Broadly speaking, it contributes to the cooperative approach within the region, meaning that it not only helps diversify trade and transit by adding an extra route connecting Central Asian countries in both east-west and north-south directions, but it also demonstrates a commitment to the development of the region as a whole in the spirit of regional economic cooperation, not just within one or two selected countries," Agharabi said.

"It is important to understand that sustainable development should be viewed as a collective endeavor shared among neighbors, so, although Kazakhstan is not a direct party to this project, this is certainly welcomed by Kazakhstan, too," Agharabi said, noting that the launching of this project is a positive development not only for China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, which will see direct and immediate economic benefits, but also for the rest of the Central Asian countries and even beyond.

The railway project is an important BRI infrastructure project under the joint cooperation in a sense that the most priority projects in the Central Asia region are joint development projects in trade and logistics, industrial cooperation and energy, Aliya Mussabekova, chief expert at the Asian Studies Department at Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan, told the Global Times.

These projects, both on a large regional scale and of local significance, form the foundation of a self-sustaining and secure common market, according to Mussabekova. In the long term, they establish Central Asia's identity as a cohesive region, the expert said.