China to engage in Trans-Afghan transport corridor project

Сhairs of KTZ and China’s construction corporation have met in Beijing to discuss cooperation prospects / Photo: Rail-news.kz.

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railway company, and China’s largest construction corporation China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) have discussed prospects for cooperation on the development of the Trans-Afghan transport corridor, as reported by Rail-news.kz.

KTZ Chair Nurlan Sauranbayev and Wang Tongzhou, the chairman of CCCC, held talks on Feb. 24 in Beijing, where they also discussed the projects at the port of Anaklia, Georgia, along with the strengthening of cooperation in logistics.

Both KTZ and CCCC expressed their readiness to step up cooperation. Notably, the Chinese company has already been involved in several projects in Kazakhstan, including railway and road infrastructure modernization.

However, KTZ is not the only Kazakhstani enterprise CCCC has partnered with in the country. For instance, in July 2024, the Chinese company was engaged in the construction of a pumped-storage hydropower plant. At the time, CCCC also inked a memorandum on e-commerce development with the national postal operator QazPost. In 2023, China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), a subsidiary of CCCC, took part in the construction of the Turgusun hydropower plant in the East Kazakhstan region.

CCCC is one of the world’s largest construction enterprises, ranking 63rd on the Fortune Global 500, with annual revenue totaling $130 billion. The corporation is involved in many big infrastructure projects all around the world, including transport corridors and port facilities.

Last April, Kazakhstan expressed its willingness to take part in the development of the Trans-Afghan transport corridor, which includes the construction of the Termez–Mazar-i-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar and Herat–Kandahar–Spin Boldak railway routes. The country is set to supply materials for the tracks, including crossties and clamps.

The Kazakhstani cabinet claims that the corridor connecting Central and South Asia will boost delivery time between the nations of the regions tenfold.