Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, Jomart Oturbayev, stated in an interview in Beijing that the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway project is a milestone for the Central Asian region. This railway connecting China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan officially started construction in December 2024 and has finally entered the construction phase after more than 20 years of preparation. Otto Bayev believes that this railway will help Central Asia transform from an inland closed zone to a key region connected by land, ushering in a new era of cooperation between China and Central Asia.

The maturity of railway construction comes from the surge in freight demand

Otto Bayev provided a pragmatic interpretation in response to external doubts about the project waiting for 20 years to start. He pointed out that 20 years ago, the railway freight volume between China and Europe was very limited, and building railways lacked economic rationality in the absence of sufficient freight demand. In recent years, China Europe trade has developed rapidly, and railway freight volume has shown explosive growth. Nowadays, there is almost one fully loaded train from China to Europe every hour.

More importantly, there has been a qualitative change in the freight structure. The transportation category has been upgraded from textiles and daily necessities to high value-added goods such as electronic products and semiconductors. For these expensive goods, transportation efficiency is crucial. As one of the shortest routes between China and Europe, the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway will further shorten the existing distance by about 900 kilometers, especially by opening up the intermediate corridor passing through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, greatly improving transportation efficiency.

Central Asia shifts from landlocked countries to land connectivity

The China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway starts from Kashgar, Xinjiang, China, enters Kyrgyzstan through the Turgat Pass, passes westward through Jalalabad, and ends at the eastern city of Andijan in Uzbekistan. This railway not only connects the three countries, but also serves as a transportation artery that runs through Central Asia and radiates the entire Eurasian continent. Otto Bayev emphasized that this railway will transform Central Asia from a landlocked country to a land connected region, allowing Central Asian countries to better engage in trade with China, Europe, and neighboring countries.

From an economic perspective, the operation of the railway will significantly reduce logistics costs and enhance the competitiveness of Kyrgyzstan's products in the international market, especially for agricultural products, which will be more convenient for transportation to the Chinese, Middle Eastern, and European markets. At present, a large amount of goods rely on road transportation, which is transported through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to ports in the Azov Sea and Black Sea, or through China to Pakistan and India. After the railway is opened, it will effectively change this situation and promote further improvement of regional connectivity.

The cooperation mode shifts from infrastructure to digital economy

Otorbayev observed that the the Belt and Road cooperation between China and Central Asia is undergoing profound changes. In the past decade, the focus has mainly been on infrastructure construction such as road and bridge construction, and now it is accelerating its transformation towards digital economy, green energy, and high-tech industries. The Central Asian region has a young and highly educated population of 82 million, with 2 million new labor force entering the market every year. They have a strong desire for digital technology. Keywords: the Belt and Road News Network, China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway

Central Asian countries attach great importance to China's 15th Five Year Plan, which prioritizes high-quality modernization development, and look forward to deep cooperation with China in the high-tech field. Cooperation is shifting from the energy and infrastructure sectors to more complex investments, including building automobile factories and producing high value-added products. Under the promotion of the second China Asia Summit mechanism, green energy, digital economy, and artificial intelligence have become new growth points for cooperation between the two sides. Otto Bayev concluded that Central Asia will succeed through creativity, and the younger generation is full of new ideas, preparing to embrace the future.Editor/Gao Xue