Kazakhstan, China start testing vehicle cargo transportation from port of Kurik to Baku through Middle Corridor

Kazakhstan and China have started transit cargo transportation to Europe from the Kuryk sea port to Baku on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor) in trial mode, the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan told Report.

"A meeting of the Kazakhstan-China joint commission on road transport is held in Aktau. At the meeting, for the first time in history, trial transit transportation of cargo on the China-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan-Georgia route through Kurik and Baku ports started," the ministry said.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the first three Chinese trucks weighing 80 tons that left Urumchi were loaded on the ferry at Kurik port on May 23 for the next trip to Baku on the China-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan-Georgia route.

"For the first time in history, the vehicles of the two countries had the opportunity to travel directly to all the main commercial cities of the parties and even make transit trips through the territories," Ali Altay, the chairman of the Road Transport and Transport Control Committee of the Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan, said at the meeting of the commission.

According to him, hundreds of millions of tons of cargo from China to Western countries are delivered by sea, in smaller volumes up to 52 days, and up to 22 days by rail. Thanks to the use of the Middle Corridor, road transport can be reduced up to 12 days by delivering goods door to door without intermediate loading/unloading.