On October 27, a briefing was organized by the Chinese Embassy in Uzbekistan in Tashkent. Within the framework of the event, the Chinese ambassador Yu Xiun answered the questions of media representatives and touched upon the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway project.

“China is serious about this facility. It was noted at the summit in Tsian that the feasibility study of the project was being completed. According to our practice, the work that has already been agreed within the framework of the leaders will definitely be brought to the end successfully.

Currently, the 3 parties are continuously and rapidly agreeing on the next steps. Here we are talking about a railway longer than 500 km and not a small sum. There must be an agreement. We will not give up, because this project is of course in the interests of China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan,” the Kun.uz reporter quoted the Chinese diplomat as saying.

The commencement of the “China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan” railway project corresponds to the beginning of the 2000s. It aimed to connect the railways of China and Uzbekistan through Kyrgyzstan, and then connect them to the European railway network through Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey as part of the “New Silk Road” transport system.

It was noted that the project, which has been on hiatus for many years, was mentioned at the level of the heads of state in the last 2-3 years, and the work was revived. But at the end of September of this year, news spread that the main investor lost its priority for China and due to financial problems, the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line was postponed indefinitely.

In addition, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project may not be in the interests of Russia and Kazakhstan, and the project may be hindered by political reasons.

According to Uzbekistan, the cost of the project is around 5-7 billion dollars, and 8-10 million tons of freight are planned to be transported on the railway under construction.