The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project linking China with Central Asian countries will soon become a reality. It is in Russia's interest that the new Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-Chinese railway be completed as soon as possible. Sergei Pavlov, deputy general director of Russian Railways, said in an interview with Russian media that the railway could therefore help share the burden of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which has encountered problems.

Russian Railways wants to participate in the construction and operation of the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway line. When the new route is put into operation, the company will be able to share Trans-Siberian railway cargo via the southern branch, he said. He believes that the new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line will be put into operation as soon as possible, which is beneficial to Russia.

Since the days of the Soviet Union, we have had good communication with Uzbekistan through Kazakhstan. The road is in good condition and we can send part of the goods to China, which is now on the way to Kashgar, China's largest city on the Silk Road, to West Asia through post-Baikalsk, he said.

This will improve logistics and share the Trans-Siberian Railway traffic, now that the load is increasing. Since the beginning of 2023 alone, cargo shipments to the west have decreased by 70 percent and to the east by 64 percent. We are ready to participate in the construction and operation of the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-China railway. This topic is being discussed now and we will cooperate, Pavlov added.

He also noted that the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway is 454 kilometers long. After the completion of the branch line, the transport volume from various countries along the line can reach 5 million tons. If Russia joins the project, these quantities could be increased to 15 million tons. Now Russian railways export 50 million tons of goods to the east. Editor/Xu Shengpeng