China-Central Asia freight trains soaring amid closer economic ties

BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The whistle of a freight train echoed through Wujiashan Station in the central Chinese city of Wuhan Saturday. The train loaded with 55 containers including 10 carrying hot melt adhesive -- a construction material in high demand in Central Asia -- was bound for Uzbekistan.

"Since April this year, the route from Wuhan to Central Asia has become a regular service, operating one train per week," said Wang Ziye, business manager at a railway operation company. A week later, another train carrying 51 containers of auto parts is scheduled to depart for Uzbekistan.

Wuhan's new rail link is part of a broader freight train network that has rapidly expanded across the country, reflecting deepening economic and trade relations between China and Central Asian countries.

The network has been particularly busy this year. On May 20, the northern Chinese city of Tianjin sent 50 containers of auto parts, machinery, construction materials, and home appliances to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Southwestern Chongqing city dispatched in April its inaugural regular Central Asia train, loaded with polyester chips, with plans for two trains per month. In late March, Gansu Province saw its first direct train to Almaty, Kazakhstan, transporting 183 automobiles.

Despite global trade headwinds, the China-Central Asia freight train network is thriving, acting as a vital and stable trade artery.

In 2024, 27 Chinese provinces and cities operated 11,920 freight trains to Central Asia, an 11.3 percent increase from the previous year. The total cargo transported reached 882,712 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up 13.2 percent.

Fu Kun, a sales manager at a Chongqing-based supply chain company, attributes this growth to complementary market demands between China and Central Asian countries. The Chinese market, especially China's western regions, and Central Asia have growing mutual needs, driving increased trade flows, he said.

Zhao Lixun, general manager of a freight company in Tianjin, believes that regular China-Central Asia train services have lowered costs and improved logistics efficiency and reliability.

The freight network has created a robust trade corridor, facilitating the flow of Chinese goods like home appliances, daily necessities, and new energy vehicles into Central Asia, while also bringing Central Asian products such as fertilizers, cotton, and beef to Chinese consumers.

China's central and western regions, in particular, have vigorously participated in the economic and trade cooperation with Central Asia. Notably, as the latest evidence of the popularity of Central Asian goods in China's vast market, high-quality wheat flour from Kazakhstan is now used to cook local Chinese delicacies.

Liu Guangwu, deputy general manager of a Gansu-based international logistics company, said that trade has diversified from basic goods like aluminum and fruit to include daily necessities, auto parts, machinery, and furniture hardware.

Official customs data show that trade between China and Central Asian countries reached a record 94.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, an increase of 5.4 billion U.S. dollars over the previous year.

Ding Xiaoxing, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China is now the largest trading partner and top investor for multiple Central Asian countries, noting that the country's cumulative investment in Central Asia has surpassed 30 billion U.S. dollars. ■