Recently, Kyrgyz President Zhaparov said that the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will officially start construction in October 2024. Not long ago, Zhaparov met with a delegation from the visiting China Railway Engineering Group Corporation. These two pieces of news indicate that the details and technical issues of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway have been finalized and are waiting to start construction. #中吉乌铁路 ##MCN首发激励计划#
Why build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway? We know that at present, whether the China-Europe freight train is leaving Manzhouli and Erenhot in Inner Mongolia, or leaving from Khorgos and Alashankou in Xinjiang, it has to pass through Russia in between. At present, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has a great impact on Eastern Europe, and railway transportation will inevitably be affected, so the opening of new China-Europe train routes has become a very urgent matter.
If the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is completed, the China-Europe freight train will be able to leave the Kashgar region and enter Europe through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey. This line, which is also the shortest option to connect Central Europe, is at least 900 kilometers shorter than other lines. In fact, the distance saved by this route is not much, but the saved customs clearance time and freight time is the majority, adding up to 8 days, which greatly reduces the time cost.
It has been more than 20 years since the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway was proposed, and the reason why it has not started construction for a long time is Russia's opposition and Kyrgyzstan's own problems.
As we all know, Central Asia is Russia's traditional sphere of influence, so Russia is very vigilant against any move by China in Central Asia. Zhaparov has repeatedly said that Kyrgyzstan has spent more than 20 years promoting the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, but Russia has always expressed opposition. In the end, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the decline of Russia's influence in Central Asia, Zhaparov personally had a long talk with Putin for half an hour before Russia made concessions.
Kyrgyzstan's own problem is mainly poverty. The total length of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is about 580 kilometers, of which about 200 kilometers are in China, 320 kilometers in Kyrgyzstan and 60 kilometers in Ukraine. China is not short of money, and although Uzbekistan is not rich, fortunately the route is shorter, and some sections of the road can also use the existing railway, so it is not a big problem. But the financial pressure in Kyrgyzstan is too great.
The road section in Kyrgyzstan is not only long, but also basically all mountainous, with a very high ratio of bridges and tunnels, and a great cost. The total investment of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is about 8 billion US dollars, and Kyrgyzstan has more than 4 billion US dollars in territory, while Kyrgyzstan's total GDP in 2023 is only 14 billion US dollars! Obviously, the Kyrgyzstan government cannot come up with the money. Therefore, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway can only adopt the BOT model of pure market-oriented operation, that is, the Kyrgyzstan government does not need to take money, it is funded by the Chinese side, and after completion, it will be operated and managed by the Chinese side, and the income will go to the Chinese side, and the railway will be handed over to the Kyrgyzstan side after a certain period of time.
Originally, China had no problem with this model, after all, the China-Laos Railway also did the same. But Kyrgyzstan not only did not want to take the money, but also wanted to make the railway bend and cover several more cities, resulting in an increase of about 60 kilometers in the total length of the line. You know, a kilometer of railway costs 100 million yuan. Therefore, the disagreement between the two sides on the line is also an important reason why the project has been delayed for so many years.
In addition, it takes a lot of time to determine the standard of track gauge. We know that the railways of China and most countries in the world are standard gauge, but Russia and Central Asian countries use broad gauge. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, China definitely wants to build a standard gauge, after all, to the south is to connect Iran and Turkey, and the railways of these two countries are standard gauge. However, Kyrgyzstan's original railway was broad gauge, and the surrounding Central Asian neighbors were also broad gauge, and the country itself was not large, and the train drove 180 kilometers out of the country, obviously unwilling to delay the train by changing tracks frequently.
In the end, China and Kyrgyzstan reached a compromise and adopted the "standard gauge + broad gauge" model, and the fairly long section of the road in Kyrgyzstan adopted standard gauge, but in this way, the dressing yard could not be located at the Sino-Kyrgyz border, but in Makmar in Kyrgyzstan, so that Kyrgyzstan could also increase its outfit income by 200 million US dollars per year and obtain a lot of jobs.
It can be said that the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway was finally started, and the Chinese side made a great compromise. However, compared with the construction of a new Eurasian land bridge, the additional cost paid by China is insignificant. It is believed that after the opening of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, China-EU trade will be greatly promoted, and China-EU relations will become closer, which will help enhance Europe's confidence in independence and self-determination, and avoid one-sided tilting towards the United States.