Days after inking an investment agreement, officials from China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan marked the ceremonial start of construction on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway project at a village outside Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan on December 27.
The laying the first stone, in the village of Tosh-Kutchu, was attended by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov; Zheng Shanjie, chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission; and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister for Trade and Investment Jamshid Khodjaev. The latter two, Zheng and Khodjaev, read remarks on behalf of their respective leaders, Xi Jinping and Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Japarov hailed the start of construction as an historic event, and referred to the planned railway as a “strategic bridge.”
“This route will ensure the delivery of goods from China to Kyrgyzstan, as well as to the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East, including Turkey, and further to the European Union.”
The CKU Railway, which has been discussed in one form or another since the 1990s, got a boost following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The CKU railway is expected to shorten the route from China to Europe by 900 kilometers, cutting transit times for freight by an estimated eight days – while avoiding Russian territory and the Trans-Siberian railway. With interest renewed in the project, through 2023 the sides negotiated over feasibility and routes.
In May 2024, Japarov announced that construction would begin in October.
The following month an agreement on cooperating on the project was signed between the parties which, among other things, outlined a financing plan. According to that agreement, the three parties would form a joint company in Kyrgyzstan to oversee the project, with China holding a 51 percent stake and Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each holding 24.5 percent.
At the time, the head of Kyrgyz Railways, Azamat Sakiev, said that the Chinese government had pledge to put up a $2.35 billion low-interest loan, funding half of the estimated construction cost of $4.7 billion. The remaining cost would be split along their respective stakes, with China putting forward $1.2 billion and Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on the hook for about $573 million each.
The planned railway will originate in Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region and cross into Kyrgyzstan at the Torugart Pass. It will continue on to Makmal and Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan, before crossing the border to Andijan, Uzbekistan. In total the railway will be 486 kilometers. Given that 311.75 kilometers of the railway will be in Kyrgyzstan, the majority of the construction work will take place in the country. As part of the agreements settled, China will construct the necessary railway on its territory to connect to Kyrgyzstan, the new joint company will manage the Kyrgyz portion, and Uzbekistan will upgrade its existing railway.
According to Mirziyoyev’s remarks, read by Khodjaev on December 27, a total of 20 stations, 42 bridges, and 25 tunnels will be built in Kyrgyzstan. RFE/RL cited different figures: 18 stations, 81 bridges, and 41 tunnels.
“The project will strengthen interregional ties, help diversify transport routes, and increase the region’s competitiveness as an international transport and transit hub, aligning with the goals of Central Asian countries,” Japarov said at the recent ceremony.
“It will connect the Central Asian region with China through the shortest overland route and further expand multifaceted cooperation and strengthen the strategic partnership among our countries,” Mirziyoyev’s remarks said, adding that the “project is also perfectly aligned with the goals of the Belt and Road Initiative.”
Although the ceremony in Tosh-Kutchu has been heralded as marking the start of construction, construction isn’t scheduled to begin until July 2025, according to a Chinese government readout of the ceremony.
“According to the current progress of the project, the construction of the Kyrgyz section of the railway project is scheduled to begin in July 2025 and last for six years,” the readout stated, noting that the next steps include the full utilization of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Company and the acceleration of work on “construction drawings design, environmental assessments, land acquisition and relocation.”