BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 24. Kazakhstan is testing a new mode to transit Chinese cargo through the Middle Corridor, Trend reports via the country's Ministry of Transport.
According to the ministry, for the first time, a ferry carrying three Chinese trucks (weighing 80 tons each) carrying products from the city of Urumqi was sent along the Middle Corridor from the Kazakh Kuryk port to the port of Baku.
"The transit route is the Urumqi-Kuryk-Baku ports of Georgia. For the first time in history, the possibility of transit of vehicles (trucks) from China to the Black Sea via the Middle Corridor through the territories of several states has been presented," the ministry pointed out.
An agreement on such an experimental transit route was reached during a meeting of the Kazakhstan-China Joint Commission on Road Transport.
To note, the multimodal route, the Middle Corridor, has been operational since 2014, but due to new geopolitical realities, its usage has increased in recent years.
Its operation covers Aktau and Kuryk ports in Kazakhstan, the Baku International Sea Trade Port, as well as Poti and Batumi in Georgia.
In 2023, nearly 2.7 million tons of cargo passed through the Middle Corridor (an 86 percent increase), and in 2024, it is forecasted to reach 4.2 million tons.
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