China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway

Despite strong mutual interest in deepening investment and trade relations, logistical bottlenecks and high transportation costs pose challenges.

A Chinese statement noted that construction of the Kyrgyz section of the CKU Railway is scheduled to begin in July 2025 and last for six years.

Sadyr Japarov reportedly said the railway will make Kyrgyzstan “a transit country for the world.” But the project is an enormous undertaking with unclear financing. 

Connectivity projects are crucial for landlocked Central Asian countries. Yet the railway brings major concerns: a lack of transparency, smuggling risks, and a possible debt trap. 

Despite the modest progress achieved under Uzbek leadership, there are still numerous challenges to Central Asian regionalism.

Debts to China influence the domestic policies of Central Asia’s countries; Kyrgyzstan is a prime example.

Railway transportation re-opened from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan after a recent suspension was lifted, but key questions remain.

China has now forged comprehensive strategic partnerships with all the Central Asian states. 

Under the September 14 agreement, the three parties will jointly fund a feasibility study of a proposed route through Kyrgyzstan necessary to bring the CKU Railway into being.

Rail routes are all the rage, as the SCO gathers. Keep an eye out for new agreements on regional transit routes.

While the hope is for the CKU route to begin construction in 2023, there remain significant challenges to realizing the railway.

Uzbekistan is leveraging its partnership with China to address the logistical and geographic challenges it faces.

In the Kyrgyz president’s first state visit to Uzbekistan earlier this month, border issues topped the agenda.

Following recent visits to Russia and Kazakhstan, new Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov is in Uzbekistan for a state visit.

In September, Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov again mentioned Russia’s participation in the long-delayed project.

The transport corridor is in use and has great potential, but the middle section through Kyrgyzstan still transports cargo via trucks and not railcars.

Tashkent’s aims to diversify its transportation routes, a necessity for the double-landlocked state, rest largely on Iran.

It may lack big headlines, but the normal continuance of diplomacy between neighbors is important in Central Asia.

Three regional presidents attended the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing last weekend.