A new 5,420 km (3,367 miles) rail service connecting western China with Turkmenistan has launched, expanding the country’s trade network in Central Asia as part of Beijing’s intensifying efforts to diversify overland routes and
bolster supply chain resilience.
The inaugural train departed on Sunday from Xining, capital of Qinghai province, loaded with electrical appliances, auto parts, clothing and other daily necessities, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The 55-container goods train is expected to reach western Turkmenistan’s strategically-located freight rail terminal in Balkan Velayat in 14 to 15 days.
Since launching its first China-Europe goods train service in 2016, Qinghai has emerged as a gateway connecting western China with the Eurasian land mass, expanding international rail links to 16 cities across 10 countries. With the new service, the province’s Central Asian network now reaches Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, broadening market access for exporters.
The new route will pass through the Horgos border crossing in the
Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and through Kazakhstan, and marks the latest step in Beijing’s push to build a land-based supply chain and trade network spanning Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, deepening economic ties with resource-rich neighbours and reducing reliance on vulnerable maritime shipping lanes.
Beijing has accelerated investment in cross-border rail infrastructure for years under the
Belt and Road Initiative, which links global economies into a China-centred trading network and promotes connectivity and infrastructure development with more than 150 partners across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
The rail network is seen as an important hedge against disruptions to global shipping, which has only taken on greater urgency since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the
US-Israeli war on Iran.
