China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have launched a new multimodal cargo transportation route. The opening ceremony took place on October 15 in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, where seven trucks departed toward the Chinese border with Kyrgyzstan.

It is expected that the cargo will arrive in Uzbekistan on October 21 and in Turkmenistan on October 24. Part of the goods from Turkmenistan will be shipped across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.

This is a pilot launch of the southern route of the China–Europe Trans-Caspian Corridor, which includes two international multimodal transport routes originating from Xi’an (Shaanxi Province) and Chengdu (Sichuan Province).

The cargo will be transported to Kyrgyzstan by road, then transferred to rail transport, reaching the port of Turkmenbashi through combined road–rail transportation, and later cross the Caspian Sea to Baku, Azerbaijan.

Another route will, for the first time, provide direct transportation between Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan using Chinese vehicles, with Ashgabat as the final destination..

The new route aims to diversify transport links between Central Asia and China, as well as China and Europe, and to enhance the transit potential of the Middle Corridor.