BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 29. The volume of goods transited from China through the territory of Kazakhstan via railroad transport increased by 1.1 million reaching 9.4 million in the process, Serik Zhumangarin, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, said, Trend reports, citing the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.
The statement was made in the framework of the 2nd Friendly Dialogue of Cross-Border Cooperation between Kazakhstan and China, which was held in Almaty.
Zhumangarin added that the volume of Chinese goods transited through Kazakhstan via road transport reached 980,600 tons.
He also said that, currently, modernization of the trade infrastructure and the border control system at the Khorgos International Center for Border Cooperation and the Khorgos-Eastern Gate Free Economic zone is being carried out.
The minister noted that bilateral cooperation in the field of transport and logistics continues, as trade hubs are expected to be constructed in Chinese Urumqi and in Astana. Additionally, Zhumangarin said that existing infrastructure in the Lianyungang port opens up appealing avenues for cooperation for both countries.
He concluded by saying that a third railway crossing between Kazakhstan and China will be opened in the area of the automobile checkpoint in Bakhty, Kazakhstan, and Chuguchak, China.
China is one of its most important trade partners of Kazakhstan. The volume of trade between the two nations reached $24 billion in 2022. Kazakh exports to China increased by around one-third to reach $13 billion, while the value of goods imported to Kazakhstan increased by 33.5 percent and amounted to $11 billion.