Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov (center) welcomes participants of the Organization of Turkic States (OET) summit, in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, on November 6, 2024 (AFP / VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO)
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov kicked off construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway on Friday, hailing the start of a “new era” in the development of regional transport.
A solemn ceremony, broadcast live by Kyrgyz public television, was organized on this occasion in the region of Djalal-Abad, in the south of this Central Asian country, between snow-capped mountains.
The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, with a total length of 522.94 km, according to Kyrgyz authorities, is planned to start from Kashgar, Xinjiang, northwest China, via Jalal-Abad , in Kyrgyzstan, to arrive in Andijan, in Uzbekistan.
The Chinese section is 155 km long, the one passing through Kyrgyz territory is 304.94 km and the Uzbek section will be 63 km long.
“This path will be able to ensure the delivery of goods from China to Kyrgyzstan and further into Central Asia, to the Middle East, Turkey and even to the European Union,” said Mr. Japarov during the ceremony. .
“I would like to wholeheartedly thank our partners – China and Uzbekistan – for assistance in realizing this project,” he added.
The project, the cost of which could reach $8 billion according to the Kyrgyz authorities, includes the construction of railway lines in mountainous areas and those covered in permafrost.
It will require the construction of 27 tunnels and 46 bridges in Kyrgyzstan, according to Bishkek.
In discussions for around twenty years, the project finally came to fruition with the signing in June of an intergovernmental agreement, by videoconference, between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his Kyrgyz counterparts Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek Chavkat Mirzioïev.
Construction could take around six years, according to Kyrgyz Railways.
China is taking on an increasingly essential role in Central Asia, to the detriment of Moscow, a historic regional power.
With its growing influence on the economies of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, Beijing is financing the “New Silk Roads”, a colossal infrastructure project to open up this mountainous region, rich in rare metals and raw materials.
