The first freight train to Central Asia departed from Beijing on the morning of 19 March. Its final destination is Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where the train will arrive in approximately two weeks. Chinese trains are making their way to Central Asian destinations more and more often, but departing from Beijing is a first.
The train from Beijing carries 90 containers with automotive parts, medicine and other products from the capital city region. It left from the Beijing Railway Logistics Center and will cross the border into Kazakhstan at Khorgos. After that, it will continue onwards to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
This new route is supposed to help Beijing in becoming more involved with the development of the Belt and Road Initiative. To support this, China Railway’s Beijing department has facilitated priority for the train, Chinese media write. The department owns the Beijing Railways Logistics Center, from which the train departed.
More rail transportation to Central Asia
China has been on a streak of launching new rail services to Central Asia. Earlier this month, the country started exporting second-hand cars via rail to Uzbekistan from Chengdu. China now also engages in multimodal shipments to Afghanistan with a rail leg. Last year, it also started sending newly manufactured cars from Xinjiang to Kazakhstan and containers from the island of Hainan to Kyrgyzstan.