(Author: Ambassador of Turkey to China Abdulkadir Emin Yonan)
The China-Europe express train is an important symbol of the development of Eurasian railway transport. During the COVID-19 pandemic, rail transport has played an important role in stabilizing global logistics supply chains and maintaining connectivity across Eurasia due to air and sea transport restrictions. The China-Europe express train is an important part of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, and the Turkish side has expressed strong support from beginning to end, and in the past decade, the China-Europe express train has made remarkable achievements and has a good momentum of future development.
Turkey's unique geographical location has historically served as a link between Europe and Asia, as exemplified by interregional trade routes such as the Silk Road and the Spice Route. Strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Turkey is a regional transportation hub and has become increasingly influential as a transportation hub in recent years.
Under the leadership of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's large-scale infrastructure projects such as highways, airports, ports, and high-speed railways have made important contributions to the realization of Eurasian connectivity. Istanbul's new airport is one of the largest in the world, accommodating 200 million passengers per year. The Turkish bolster is building the Edirne-Kars high-speed railway, which can make transportation from China to Central Asia to Europe faster and cheaper. The Yavuz Sultan Slem Bridge across the Bosphorus, the Eurasian Undersea Tunnel, the Marmara Undersea Tunnel and the Ottoman Gazi Bridge across the Gulf of Izmit, as well as other logistics centers and communication infrastructure, are part of Turkey's integrated transport network. With the completion of the Canakkale 1915 Bridge in the Dardanelles Strait in early 2022, there will be multiple modes of transport between Asia and Europe to ensure connectivity and increase the efficiency of connectivity by six times compared to the past.
Turkey is ramping up its efforts to build a high-speed railway, with an additional 5,500 kilometers expected by 2023. Turkey is the eighth country in the world to have a high-speed rail, and there is currently a high-speed rail between Ankara, Eskisehir and Konya, and the high-speed rail between Ankara and Istanbul will soon be completed. Turkey is also building logistics centers to take advantage of the rail transport of goods.
The main objectives of Turkey's construction of the transport integration corridor are to build a modern Silk Road, develop reliable transport backup routes, promote multimodal transport (especially in the trans-Caspian trade transport corridor), promote the transformation and upgrading of transport infrastructure, eliminate cross-border transport bottlenecks, simplify customs clearance procedures, remove administrative approval barriers, improve logistics and corridor management capabilities, and strengthen coordination and cooperation with transit countries.
Many of Turkey's mega-projects are invested by The Chinese side, and many more are being planned. Many projects in the fields of transportation, logistics, energy, trade and other fields have begun to enter the delivery stage, injecting new vitality into the ancient Silk Road. In the future, Turkey's geographical advantages will be more prominent. These projects will be integrated into the Trans-Caspian Trade Transport Corridor (hereinafter referred to as the Intermediate Corridor) project, thus creating a cost-effective and safe Asia-Europe transport route.
The China-Europe Express has also benefited from the construction and upgrading of Turkish railways, facilities and related services. The opening of the China-Europe Express (China-Turkey) in December 2020 is the latest achievement in the development of Turkish transport, which has taken a big step forward for Turkish transport. The train connects the intermediate corridor via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transnational railway, with a total length of about 8,700 kilometers, passing through two continents, two seas, five countries, and the freight from Istanbul to Xi'an takes less than two weeks. When the distant dream of hollowing out the two places became a reality, more freight trains followed. Turkey is planning to develop a weekly train schedule for freight trains between the two places, and more trains will travel between Turkey and China more frequently in the future.
As the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and the ancient capital of China, Xi'an city has witnessed the trade and people-to-people exchanges between the ancient Turks, Chinese and other ethnic groups. The ancestors of the two countries understood the importance of safe and stable transportation routes for economic activity, and the ancient Silk Road was born to facilitate the trade of goods between Asia and Europe. Today, after centuries of ups and downs, Tuzhong has re-embarked on this path. It can be said that we are taking advantage of the opportunities brought by science and technology and modernization to jointly build a modern Silk Road.
I would like to briefly introduce the progress of Turkey's Trans-Caspian East-West Trade transport corridor and give my insights on the importance of the project for Eurasian connectivity:
First, the shift in the global economy's center of gravity to the East has injected sustained momentum into the movement of goods between Asia and Europe, and the pandemic has increased this momentum. A good example is that the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and China will reach US$26 billion in 2020, which is one of the best levels of bilateral trade between European and Asian countries, but with the increase in trade, finance and investment exchanges between Turkey and China, bilateral trade is expected to exceed US$50 billion in the future.
It is worth noting that the railway interconnection between Turkey and China will accelerate economic activity in Eurasia, thereby strengthening the bilateral economic relationship between the two countries. By freight trains, products produced in Turkey and China will be more easily transported to each other's markets. Turkey's brands and product quality have a good reputation, and the sales channels are smooth in many countries around the world, and these products will appear on the shelves of China more frequently. In addition, Turkish merchants will also join China's e-commerce platform to explore online sales channels for products. The Turkish side encourages Turkish entrepreneurs to take advantage of the new opportunities brought about by the development of commerce and trade between the two countries.
Second, with a population of 84 million, Turkey is not only a regional trade hub, but also a bridge between three continents, radiating markets in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Turkey's customs union agreement with the EUROPEAN Union has enabled Turkish products to enter the EU market, and Turkey has signed free trade agreements with 28 countries, meaning that Turkey has access to 1 billion consumers.
Third, the most critical infrastructure required for the implementation of the intermediate corridor has been completed. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transnational railway, with a total length of 840 km, was commissioned in 2017. A direct rail line from Beijing via the Caspian Sea and the Bosphorus, which eventually reaches London, is officially completed and opens in November 2019. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transnational railway can accommodate 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo per year, and the number of passengers and cargo will increase to 3 million and 17 million tons in 2034. Recently, the cargo traffic of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transnational railway has grown rapidly, from 4,000 tons in 2017, from 195,000 tons to nearly 400,000 tons during the epidemic in 2020, and 106,000 tons in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
Fourth, the middle corridor offers clear future opportunities. The middle corridor is another route in addition to the northern and southern routes, which can optimize and improve the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The intermediate corridor provides an alternative logistics channel for the China-Europe Express beyond the existing routes, enhancing the safety of transport. The Blockade of the Suez Canal in March 2021 once again confirmed the importance of developing multiple logistics channels. One of the logics behind the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative is to extensively develop transportation routes, and the two ends of the middle corridor connect Asia and Europe, which coincides with the original intention of the "Belt and Road" initiative. The Middle Corridor provides a faster and shorter route to the Balkans, Western Europe and Northern Europe. In addition, the winter climatic conditions in the middle corridor facilitate the transport of non-durable goods and agricultural products.
Both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chinese President Xi Jinping have expressed strong political determination to strengthen Turkish-Chinese cooperation. Turkey is the first country to support the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, and the trans-Caspian Trade and Transport Corridor Initiative has a high degree of complementarity with the "Belt and Road" Initiative. In 2015, Turkey and China signed an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding on jointly advancing the Belt and Road Initiative. In terms of building transportation corridors and deepening regional economic cooperation in Eurasia, Turkey and China can achieve further integration of interests. Relevant ministries in Turkey and China plan to hold a high-level meeting on deepening cooperation.
With the rise of Asia and connectivity projects, the world is undergoing a major transformation. Deepening cooperation between Turkey and China in the field of transportation and logistics will promote prosperity and stability throughout the Eurasian region. At present, the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has achieved remarkable results, and the recent opening of the China-Europe train between Turkey and China is a successful example. In the future, with the continuous deepening of Turkey-China cooperation, the two countries will surely usher in broader cooperation opportunities and a more brilliant tomorrow!