Camel bells echo deep in the grasslands, and the “steel camel caravan” of the China Europe (Central Asia) freight train rushes tirelessly, accelerating the construction of the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor. From the ancient Silk Road to modern hubs, five international railway corridors now run through Kazakhstan, with a transit volume of 33 million tons this year. In recent days, the journalist and his team visited the Dostyk Port, Atenkli Port, and Aktau Port in Kazakhstan to personally experience the acceleration of logistics cooperation between China and Kazakhstan.
On September 1st, a China Europe freight train loaded with automotive parts and electronic products slowly departed from Alashankou Station, marking the passage of 5000 China Europe (Central Asia) freight trains through the Alashankou railway port this year. Currently, there are 125 China Europe (Central Asia) freight lines passing through the Alashankou Railway Port, covering 21 countries including Germany and Poland, carrying over 200 types of goods.
On the Kazakh side of the port, Takan Jizatov, the general manager of Dostek Terminal, told reporters that thanks to the “the Belt and Road” initiative and the vigorous development of China Europe (Central Asia) trains, the volume of freight traffic passing through Dostek Port has increased by about 20% annually in recent years. The replacement capacity of Dostyk Hub Station in 2024 will significantly exceed that of 2023. In Dostyk Land Port, Harbin has deployed advanced automation management systems and artificial intelligence applications, which can directly issue operation instructions to container loading and unloading equipment, accurately locate container positions on site, and execute operations.
In the future, with the opening of the Dostyk Moint railway double track in Harbin, the capacity of Alashankou Dostyk to receive and send trains will be greatly improved, and we remain optimistic about continued growth. “Jizatov said that the Dostyk hub station plans to continue expanding and further improving the efficiency of replacement.
Zarkent is the closest town to the Atenki Port on the China Kazakhstan border, where local residents of Kazakhstan commute to and from the port and border areas every day. In recent years, the population of Zarkent has grown from 40000 to 50000. The reporter saw that the internet famous chain burger restaurants and pearl milk tea shops that are only available in Harbin have quietly settled in, and several star rated hotels have opened here.
The “Khorgos Dongmen” dry port in Kazakhstan is located in the “Khorgos Dongmen” special economic zone in Suzhou, China Kazakhstan border, covering a total area of 129.8 hectares. It is the largest dry port in Central Asia. Muslim Kadyrov, the business manager of the “Khorgos East Gate” Dry Port, who has worked here for 8 years, told the reporter that Kazakhstan China logistics cooperation has brought tangible benefits to the lives of local residents, and has also brought “blowout business opportunities” to border areas. Multiple preferential policies and tax relief dividends have attracted nearly 100 enterprises to settle in the special economic zone, constantly attracting outstanding talents to settle down.
Kadyrov said that since 2015, the first 6 operation lines of the “Khorgos East Gate” dry port have increased to 19, and the business has expanded from single container reloading to container, bulk cargo, commodity vehicles and other cargo source reloading. By 2024, the reloading volume of the dry port has increased from 20000 TEUs to 324000 TEUs. The replacement volume of waterless ports continued to grow rapidly in the first eight months of this year.
Entering Aktau Port, the main shipping hub along the Caspian Sea coast, the reporter saw that nearly half of the neatly stacked three-layer containers were from China. Port workers are using cranes to load goods onto cargo ships docked at the shore in an orderly manner. This is one of the most modern ports in the Caspian Sea and an important part of the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor.
Nurguli Zakupova, acting secretary-general of the International Association for Trans Caspian Sea International Transport Corridor, told reporters that the Trans Caspian Sea International Transport Corridor starts from China, passes through Kazakhstan and Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia, and can extend to Türkiye and European countries. Against the backdrop of profound transformation in the global logistics landscape and accelerated redistribution of cargo flow, the importance of the trans Caspian international transportation route has sharply increased, and the construction speed and capacity growth of the corridor have been rapidly promoted.
Zakubova introduced that in 2023, the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor will only operate 11 container trains in Kazakhstan throughout the year, while in 2024, this number will reach 359 trains. The total freight volume of the corridor will exceed 4.5 million tons in 2024. The number of container trains operating in the first eight months of this year reached 275, a year-on-year increase of 61 trains. It is predicted that the transit transportation capacity of the corridor will reach about 10 million tons by 2030.
Zakubova introduced that the Kazakh government is vigorously promoting diversified east-west transit transportation capabilities and actively building railways for the Trans Caspian International Transport Corridor. In addition, the first phase pilot area of the Aktau Port container hub project was officially launched in June this year, which is equivalent to adding modern “gas stations” and “dispatch stations” to the trans Caspian international transportation corridor.
Zakubova said that in the future, the corridor will strive to simplify and coordinate customs procedures; Vigorously promote the containerization of cargo flow and improve transportation efficiency; And promote the integration of large-scale logistics operation platforms along the route to achieve digitalization of corridor logistics.
The commercial director of Aktau International Maritime Trade Port, Anuuar Nemeshoff, said that the ports along the coast of the Hali Sea are connected with important logistics nodes such as Dostek and Khorgos, forming multiple logistics arteries, which played a vital role in the socio-economic development along the line, building a diversified and resilient Asia Europe transport pattern, and making positive contributions to building a more stable and balanced international trade system.