China negotiating for Silk Road cross-border rail links

BEIJING - China is negotiating with the governments of Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan to build three connective railroads to improve regional trade on the Silk Road economic belt. Since 2010, major Chinese cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, Zhengzhou, Wuhan and Yiwu have begUan weekly or monthly train services to European and Central Asia destinations as a part of China’s efforts to turn its inland resources and labor-rich cities into international trade hubs.

The greater number of cross-border railways has brought success to these cities, cutting down transport times and freight costs. Eighty-six cargo trains carrying 7,450 containers passed through the Alataw Pass railways station on the China-Kazakhstan border between January and July of this year, with trade volume reaching US$1 billion, according to customs.

Central Asian countries are eager to build new platforms for broader trade and for cultural and technological co-operation with China, which is in line with China’s ongoing plan to strengthen the railway sector. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).