China has dispatched 280 container (block) trains to Europe via the Middle Corridor since the beginning of this year, Report informs, citing the Azerbaijan Railways (ADY).
On November 25, ADY held a meeting with a delegation from Xi'an International Port of China.
During a meeting, ADY Chairman Rovshan Rustamov highlighted the growing cooperation between Azerbaijan and China in freight transportation along the Middle Corridor. He noted that a historic event took place yesterday when, for the first time, export goods were sent from Baku to China by rail.
This milestone marks a new stage in the economic and transport relations between the two countries. The ability to transport goods in both directions, from East to West and vice versa, further enhances the efficiency of the Middle Corridor. ADY is also interested in intensively developing cooperation with China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Transport Route.
ADY is implementing several important projects to transform Azerbaijan into an international transport and logistics hub and increase freight traffic along international corridors passing through the country. The expansion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line and the increase of its cargo capacity to 5 million tons per year allow for the acceleration of cargo flow in the East-West direction.
Sun Yimin, Director of the Management Committee of the Xi'an International Trade and Logistics Park, and Yuan Xiaojun, CEO of Xi'an Free Trade Port Construction and Operation Co Ltd, stated that they place special importance on developing cooperation with Azerbaijan's transport and logistics institutions, including ADY. They emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation to increase cargo volumes along the Middle Corridor.
The first Baku-Xi'an export block train consists of 62 40-foot containers. This cargo will be delivered to Xi'an Port, one of China's largest dry ports, via Kazakhstan. As part of the project, it is initially planned to send a total of 15,000 tons, or 600 containers, of export cargo to China via this route by the end of this year.
Also, it is expected that more than 300 container (block) trains from China will be received in Azerbaijan by the year's end. The plan is to more than triple the number of trains to 1,000 by 2025.