In the morning, the wind at Alashankou still carries the coolness of the Gobi Desert. A freight truck loaded with containers slowly entered the loading and unloading warehouse, and as the gantry crane was lifted and lowered, each box was transferred from the wide gauge body to the standard gauge body - the 85mm gauge difference between 1520mm and 1435mm was resolved here time and time again. In a few hours, this batch of trains loaded with Kazakh wheat and flaxseed will head towards processing plants in inland China. This scene is a microcosm of the busy daily life at the China Kazakhstan railway port.

Freight volume has reached a new level

The 35th meeting of the China Kazakhstan Border Railway Joint Committee was recently held in Urumqi. The Kazakhstan delegation is led by Malat Shakenov, Vice Chairman of the Management Committee of the Kazakhstan State Railway Company, and the Chinese delegation is led by Guo Ji'an, Chairman of the Urumqi Group of China Railway. At the meeting, both parties summarized the transportation achievements and discussed the 2027 cooperation work plan.

Data shows that from January to September 2026, the freight volume at the China Kazakhstan border ports reached 28.4 million tons, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year. Among them, Kazakhstan transported 17.6 million tons to China, an increase of 9%; China transported 10.8 million tons to Kazakhstan, an increase of 8%. In 2025, the freight volume between the two countries will reach 35.6 million tons, an increase of 11% compared to 2024, of which 22.2 million tons will be shipped from Kazakhstan to China and 13.4 million tons from China to Kazakhstan.

Growth is not just written on the books. From January to September 2026, two major railway ports in Xinjiang, Alataw Pass and Khorgos, will run 14084 China Europe Central Asia trains, up 5.3% year on year, with 28.353 million tons of cargo passing, up 8.1% year on year. Over the past 35 years since the connection between Alashankou and Hafandostke Station, more than 425 million tons of goods have been transported through this channel.

Simultaneous expansion of port capacity

The more goods go, the more they test the routes and stations. The Harbin National Railway Company has promoted a number of infrastructure projects: the double track section from Dostyk to Moint District has been completed, with significantly improved traffic capacity; The modernization transformation on the side of Atenkoli is being carried out simultaneously; The third cross-border railway from Bacht to Tacheng is being promoted, and after completion, the annual freight volume is expected to increase by another 25 million tons. On the Chinese side, the construction of the second line of the Jinghe Alashankou railway has been completed and put into use. The large indoor container transfer warehouse can realize the overall transfer of the entire train, and the carrying capacity of the rear passage can be continuously released.

Efficiency is also increasing. Relying on the smart railway port and local fast customs clearance, trains can be inspected and released immediately upon arrival. The fastest customs clearance time for trains at the Alashankou Railway Port has been compressed to less than 4 hours. As emphasized at the meeting, in order to continue expanding freight volume, the railway infrastructure of the two countries must develop synchronously. Both sides also exchanged views on ensuring smooth operation of border ports.

New quantity of grain special trains added

The scale of exports of metals, petroleum products, coal, and chemical products from Kazakhstan to China is expanding, and the growth in transportation of grain and feed goods is even more impressive. By 2025, Kazakhstan's grain production will exceed 27.1 million tons, including over 20.3 million tons of wheat, requiring a stable external market. In September 2026, the China Kazakhstan Grain Trading Platform will be launched in Changsha, allowing enterprises to complete supply and demand docking, bidding, and agreement transactions online; In May of the same year, the State Administration of Grain and Material Reserves of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of grain. In 2025, the trade volume of agricultural products between China and Kazakhstan reached 1.97 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 36.8%, of which Kazakhstan exported 1.43 billion US dollars to China. Both parties will continue to explore specific measures to increase the transportation volume of agricultural products.

According to the proposal of Kazakhstan, the freight volume for 2027 is set at 42.3 million tons, of which 26.8 million tons will be sent to China by Kazakhstan and 15.5 million tons will be transported in reverse.

During the visit, the Kazakhstan delegation visited Urumqi West Station, the high-speed train depot, and Urumqi Railway Station. After the meeting, both parties will sign the meeting minutes. With the deepening of the joint construction of the the Belt and Road, this Eurasian land route is playing a more important strategic role.Editor/Yang Meiling