Trains of the New Silk Road crossing the China-Kazakhstan border have increased by 14.6% compared to May of this year, with a total volume of 5,903 trains, according to the railway journal Railway Supply, citing Rail.freight.

The train traffic

The share of the Alashankou terminal accounted for 2,714 trains, while the traffic through the Khorgos terminal amounted to 3,189 trains, showing a year-on-year increase of 10.4% and 18.4% respectively. This was reported by China Railway, the national railway company of China.

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When it comes to the New Silk Road trains, the China-Kazakhstan border in Xinjiang plays a significant role as a major transshipment point for the transported volume between Europe and China. The Khorgos terminal ranked first as the busiest cross-border terminal in the country. In 2022, it handled over 7,000 China-Europe Express trains.

Alashankou, which used to be the busiest border crossing, is currently undergoing reconstruction to increase its capacity, resulting in fewer trains passing through it. Currently, the Alashankou terminal can handle 17 trains per day, or 21 at best, with an estimated capacity of 200,000 TEUs per year. As a result, this year, cargo has been redirected to the Khorgos border crossing, including cargo between China and Central Asian countries (except Kazakhstan).

New intermodal link between Germany and Italy

Despite the growing volume passing through the Xinjiang border crossing, not all trains are bound for Europe. Many trains from China stop in Central Asian countries.

Central Asia is changing its role in the New Silk Road. Countries that were positioned as transit hubs connecting China and Europe logistics networks are now becoming end destinations.

At the recent China-Central Asia Summit held in Xi’an, leaders of the respective countries strongly advocated for strengthening the connection between China and Central Asian countries, with rail transportation being one of the main drivers.

Shortly after the summit, ZTE, the second-largest 5G infrastructure provider in China after Huawei, sent its first batch of containers from Xi’an to Tashkent by rail.

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