To ensure sufficient transit cargo from East to West, in November 2023 Kazakhstan and China signed a number of agreements to develop the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, including China-Europe container trains. These agreements were ratified by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 1 July 2024.
According to Caspian Energy Media, which cites the press service of the Kazakhstan government, a joint venture Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd. was established on the basis of the Astana International Financial Centre, bringing together the railway administrations of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia to manage the route on a parity basis.
As part of the joint venture "China-Kazakhstan Trade and Logistics Company", established in 2023 with the participation of Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co., Ltd. and JSC NC KTZh (represented by JSC Kedentransservice), a terminal was built in the dry port of Xi'an. Since the beginning of the year alone, transit through TMTM from China has shown almost twofold growth.
By the end of 2023, the volume of traffic on the TMTM route increased by 65% compared to 2022, reaching 2.76 million tonnes (1.7 million tonnes in 2022). In the first 7 months of 2024, traffic totalled 2.56 million tonnes, 63% more than in the same period last year (1.57 million tonnes).
Not only countries along the corridor, but also the regions of Southeast Asia, the Persian Gulf and Europe are showing interest in its development as a stable and competitive route.
