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2 July 2024

Why Does China Need Another Railway Through Central Asia? – Analysis

Alan Kosh

Perhaps the cause isn’t economic gain.

China plans to build a new railway line from the western part of the country through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with access to Iran and Europe.

According to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway will begin in October this year and will cost $4.7 billion. He announced it on May 6.

Simultaneously, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov announced that the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway would require approximately $8 billion.

Various sources plan to build a total of 18 stations, 81 large and medium-sized bridges, and 41 tunnels along the approximately three hundred-kilometer stretch of railway in Kyrgyzstan. Along the way, railway trains will cross earthquake-prone mountain ranges more than 3,000 meters above sea level. About 13,000 earthquakes occur in Kyrgyzstan every year, and over the past 150 years, the country has recorded more than ten strong earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0, aggravating the situation.

Apparently, this does not stop the project’s initiators. The Kyrgyz president is enthusiastic and confident that the road will be built in 3–4 years, although according to the National Railway Company of Kyrgyzstan, the project will take 6–8 years. Zhaparov also claims that the country will earn $200 million per year from the project. However, in order to earn them, Kyrgyzstan will have to compete with Russia and Kazakhstan, which are increasing the capacity of their routes—the Northern and Middle Corridors.

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