Chinese freight is finding its way west more and more often via rail. Illustratively, in the first four months of 2025, the number of freight trains to Central Asia more than doubled compared to the same period in 2024.
“The sharing of container transportation in the China – Central Asia direction was increased by 104%”, writes Kazakh Railways (KTZ), taking stock of the first months of the year. A growth of 104% means that the number of trains amounted to 144.
KTZ also points out that the volume of rail freight between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, a (currently small) part of which is Chinese traffic, amounted to 11,5 million tonnes in 2024. The company does not have data on how that compares to earlier years, but it likely constitutes growth. In 2023, overall freight turnover between the two countries across all modes of transportation was around 31 million tonnes.
Interestingly, KTZ adds that there was an average of 26 daily freight trains crossing just the Saryagash border crossing into Uzbekistan. By comparison, there were also 26 daily China – Europe freight trains crossing the Khorgos border crossing in the first quarter of 2025. Khorgos is a major rail checkpoint between Kazakhstan and China on the Middle Corridor.
China – Kazakhstan
Moreover, rail freight between China and Kazakhstan has been growing steadily. It has surged by 450% since 2015, with a small drop in pandemic year 2021. KTZ attributes a big part of the increase to its dry port in the Chinese city of Xi’an, from where a lot of freight departs westward.
The doubling of China – Central Asia freight was announced alongside a meeting of Kazakh, Uzbek and Tajik rail representatives. “The meeting focused on the need to ensure timely receipt and export of cargoes and to increase the share of container transportations. A protocol was signed as a result of the meeting”, KTZ explained.