The number of China Europe regular trains has increased greatly year by year, and the existing infrastructure of some countries along the line cannot meet the development needs of China Europe regular trains, thus causing port congestion and hindering the smooth operation of China Europe regular trains. Recently, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have confirmed that the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway, which has been delayed for at least 25 years, will start in 2023. The China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway is an important part of the southern corridor of the Western Line of the China Europe Railway, which is of great significance for promoting the economic and social development of the regions along the line. At the 10th World Peace Forum held in Beijing on July 4, 2022, Kazakhstan's ambassador to China, Shahrat Nureshev, revealed that Kazakhstan and China are establishing a third railway on the border between China and Kazakhstan. This is another major achievement of China in Central Asia after the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway.

China Kazakhstan Takes Bilateral Relations to a New Height

At present, there are two railway ports between China and Kazakhstan, namely Alashankou Port and Khorgos Port. With the opening of Khorgos Railway Port Station, China Kazakhstan freight trains have opened to each other. This is the second international railway channel open to the west in China, following the Sino Kazakhstan Alataw Pass Port Station of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge. The railway line in China that achieved this docking is Xinjiang Jingyi Huo Railway, which is the first electrified railway in Xinjiang. It starts from Jinghe Station in the west section of Lanzhou Xinjiang Railway in the east and ends at Khorgos Station at the border port between China and Kazakhstan in the west, with a total length of 292 kilometers. "I was lucky to get on the first train today", said Ainivar Abbas, a 49 year old passenger from the Republic of Kazakhstan, happily:, This port will become an international transportation hub integrating roads, railways and pipelines for China to face Central Asia and even Europe. According to the domestic industry, the development plan of Horgos Port and the development trend of freight volume, with the opening of Horgos Railway Port, it is expected that the import and export cargo volume of Horgos Port will double.

At present, 90% of China EU trains pass through the railway network of Kazakhstan. Russia, Kazakhstan and China all said they would expand and speed up the China EU railway. Kazakhstan is the first place to jointly build the the Belt and Road Initiative, and also the first west departure station of the the Belt and Road. Nureshev introduced that around the the Belt and Road Initiative, China and Kazakhstan are effectively implementing the list of projects covering 52 investment projects with a total amount of more than 21 billion dollars, covering transportation and logistics, industry and agriculture, energy, tourism and other fields. In the field of logistics, 51% of the goods sent from China to Europe pass through Kazakhstan.

In order to meet the increasing transit transport demand between China and Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Blue Book: Kazakhstan Development Report (2021) released by China proposes that Kazakhstan should increase investment in the construction of roads, railways and other infrastructure in border areas with China, and improve the customs clearance capacity of Chinese goods and domestic railway transport capacity. Since 2021, Kazakhstan has significantly improved the transport capacity of Dostek railway port in its territory. The first phase of the new port reload station will be put into operation in 2021. The designed annual container reload capacity is 160000 TEUs. In May 2022, the second phase of the new transshipment station at Dostek Railway Port will be put into operation, and the annual transshipment volume will increase from 160,000 TEUs to 320,000 TEUs, doubling directly.

The location of the third cross-border railway port between Kazakhstan and China has been determined

Faced with the rapid economic development in Central Asia, China and Kazakhstan urgently need to build a strong transportation network to support the trade economy of both sides. Both sides have maintained close communication on the issue of adding railway ports. Nureshev once again confirmed that the two sides are discussing the construction of a third railway port on the Kazakhstan China border. The specific location of the port in China is the Baktu port in Tacheng, Xinjiang, and Kazakhstan is the border area between Abay and China. The opening of the third cross-border railway port between China and Kazakhstan in the future will greatly promote the transport and logistics cooperation between the two countries.

Xinjiang railway network lays a good foundation for cross-border railway

Tacheng, Xinjiang, is located in the northwest border of China, bordering Kazakhstan in the west and north. The traffic in Tacheng before was inconvenient, and trade with the outside world could only rely on a single road transport, with slow economic development. In order to get rid of this dilemma, the construction of Karamay Tacheng joint venture railway with a total estimated investment of 5.2 billion yuan in 2014 was officially started, with a total length of 306 kilometers. The first phase of the project is from Baikouquan to Tiechanggou, and the second phase of the project is from Tiechanggou Town to Baktu, crossing Tacheng area, Karamay City and the Ninth Division of the Corps, passing through six industrial parks and new urban areas, and crossing two major energy bases, namely, Shitoluogai Coal Field and Xinjiang Karamay Oilfield. At both ends of the railway, there are two construction projects: China Power Investment Tacheng and Guodian Karamay × The 350,000 kilowatt cogeneration project will also carry out a number of major projects related to economic and social development along the line, all involving large quantities of fuel coal and product transportation. Therefore, Keta Railway is positioned as a resource railway and a coal transportation channel. The future planning of Quebec Tajikistan Railway in Tacheng is: coal transportation in the near future, other freight transportation in the medium term, and passenger transportation in the long term. There are many kinds of mineral resources and large reserves in Tacheng area. There are coal, granite, gold, copper, iron ore and other mineral resources in the area where the railway under construction crosses. After the project is completed, it is predicted that the short-term annual traffic volume will reach 10.42 million tons, and the long-term annual traffic volume will exceed 15 million tons. The construction of Keta Railway is of great significance to promote the development of advantageous resources and improve the efficiency of development enterprises. In addition, the National Development and Reform Commission has listed Quetta Railway as the westernmost section of the northern line of the New Eurasian Continental Bridge in China, which will become an important part of the international railway trunk line and the third major channel to Central Asia and Europe in Xinjiang after Alashankou and Khorgos.

Karamay City is located in the central area of northwest Xinjiang, with the regional comprehensive transportation hub as the positioning goal. Now the electrification transformation projects of the Keta and Karamay Aramco railways have been included in the list of projects to accelerate the early stage of work in the Fourteenth Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Outline of Vision Targets for 2035. At the same time, as a preliminary work project to speed up the promotion, the electrification transformation project of the Ke A Railway has been included in the "Fourteenth Five Year" Comprehensive Three dimensional Transportation Plan of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. After the implementation of the above projects, the running time of Karamay to and from Tajik City and stations along the Altay City will be greatly shortened, and the urban connection between regions will be closer. The optimization of Karamay Tacheng Railway has laid a foundation for opening up the third railway channel from Xinjiang to Central Asia and Europe.

Ayaguz City, East Kazakhstan, 270km away from Tacheng City, Xinjiang, is an important railway hub in Kazakhstan. The Outline of China Kazakhstan Cooperation Plan (2015-2020) signed by China and Kazakhstan in December 2015 clearly specifies to strengthen the construction of connectivity channels and study the feasibility of building the Karamay Baktu Ayaguz railway project. On March 22, 2017, Tacheng District and Dongha Prefecture Government signed the Memorandum on Preliminary Study of Karamay Baktu Ayaguz Railway (Baktu Ayaguz Section) Construction, and jointly prepared the Study on Tacheng Ayaguz Railway Scheme (First Draft). With the combination of hardware equipment and policy, the trade and economic development between China and Kazakhstan is no longer hindered.

New starting point of the Belt and Road economy

The three countries of China, Kazakhstan and Russia optimize the heavy haul railway. The goal is to transport bulk products such as energy and ores. The Russian Kazakh iron ore, uranium ore, coal, timber and grain will be transported through the heavy haul railway. The speed increase is mainly to build a high-speed container railway, with the goal of rapid transportation of high-value product containers. Therefore, Lanzhou Urumqi heavy haul railway and high-speed container railway have begun to prepare for construction. Lanzhou Xinjiang Railway has been upgraded to double lines for passenger and freight transportation, double lines for high-speed passenger transport, double lines for heavy haul railway and double lines for high-speed container railway. Lanzhou Xinjiang Railway has taken the lead in upgrading to the national backbone railway accompanied by eight lines of railway, preparing for the logistics of Central Asia Railway.

The construction of the three railways between China and Kazakhstan is another example of deepening cooperation between the two countries. With the continuous progress of the the Belt and Road construction, China's economic and trade exchanges with Europe, countries along the Belt and Road, and five Central Asian countries have developed rapidly. The three railway lines between China and Kazakhstan will play a positive role in promoting trade and people to people and cultural exchanges between the two countries.Editor/Xing Wentao