China to Launch Trial Transportation of Lithium-Ion Batteries Along Middle Corridor This Month

ASTANA – China plans to launch the trial transportation of lithium-ion batteries from China along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the Middle Corridor, this month.

The volume of rail traffic between Kazakhstan and China climbed by 13% from January to October. Photo credit: Transport Ministry

A relevant agreement on the joint development of the route was reached during a Dec. 5 meeting between Transport Ministers of Kazakhstan Marat Karabayev and China Liu Wei in Beijing, reported the Kazakh ministry’s press service.

During the meeting, the officials noted a significant increase in the volume of rail and road transportation and in the number of flights between the countries and along the Middle Corridor.

The volume of rail traffic between Kazakhstan and China climbed by 13% from January to October, reaching 26.6 million tons, while road transport increased by 60% from July to September, totaling 1.9 million tons.

At the present, the volume of transit from China along the TITR (in the direction of China-Europe) has surpassed 27,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), a 25-fold increase over the same period last year. The meeting participants also discussed the idea of establishing new routes and expanding freight transit via transboundary rivers between Kazakhstan and China.