At the Kazakhstan-China roundtable held in Astana on July 2, several agreements were signed by Kazakhstan’s national railways company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) and Chinese partners to expand Kazakhstan-China cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative.
Kazakhstan Temir Zholy and Lianyungang Port Group agreed on joint investment in the construction of a container hub at the port of Aktau on Kazakhstan’s Caspian coast. The project aims to improve both the effectiveness of the port’s existing infrastructure and the processing of container cargoes shipped through Kazakhstan.
KTZ Express (a subsidiary of KTZ), Xi’an Free Trade Port (China), and Slavtrans-Service JSC (Russia) agreed to create a unified digital corridor on the China-Kazakhstan-Russia route to provide a seamless system for processing customs clearance, electronic trade, and other functions. Once in place, it will significantly accelerate logistics, promote the development of electronic trade, simplify customs procedures, reduce trade barriers, increase the transparency and efficiency of supply chains.
An agreement was also signed with China’s CRRC for the supply of 200 locomotives to Kazakhstan. Built with improved structural and traction parameters, the locomotives will be adapted to withstand Kazakhstan’s climate and to emit low levels of harmful substances into the atmosphere.
