Kazakhstan and China are set to open a new rail border crossing by 2027, aiming to alleviate severe congestion at existing crossings. The new facility will be situated near the town of Bakhty and is part of a major infrastructure project that includes a 272-kilometer rail line, with a total projected cost of around €1bn.
The new border crossing will have a throughput capacity of 20mn tonnes annually. This move comes in response to the current strain on the Dostyk and Atynkol border crossings, which have been unable to handle the increasing volume of rail traffic.
Earlier this year, Kazakhstan was forced to temporarily halt container and grain trains due to overwhelming congestion. In April, grain train shipments were stopped, followed by a suspension of container trains in early September.
The new crossing aims to reduce bottlenecks and improve the efficiency of rail transport between the two countries, supporting both freight and trade operations.
In August, Kazakh Invest and China's Xinjiang Hengyuan Investment Management inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a large-scale Kazakhstan-China trade and industrial park in Astana.
The project, which will span 50 hectares, aims to boost growth in critical sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy such as logistics, warehousing, processing, trade, commercial services, and real estate management. Additionally, the initiative is expected to attract Chinese trade and manufacturing firms to Kazakhstan, acting as a driving force for further economic collaboration between the two nations.
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