China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Loan Agreement

2025-12-26

26-12-2025

Recently, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a loan agreement for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan large-scale railway project was signed.

Although the official opening ceremony of the railway construction project was held at the end of 2024, the issue of financial security for the project has not been finally settled.

In terms of financial settlement, the recent signing ceremony in Bishkek is of paramount importance, as the issue of financial contributions from the parties involved in the project has finally been resolved.

As noted at the official signing ceremony of the financial document, the new highway has all the prerequisites for becoming a southern “land bridge” between Asia and Europe.

Experts are confident that the new, strategically important route from China via Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to Central Asian countries, the Middle East, including Turkey and the European Union, will create unprecedented opportunities for direct delivery of goods.

In fact, the new railway will be aimed at redistributing cargo flows from China in a regional context, including in the direction of the Middle Corridor, bypassing Russia.

The heads of state of the three countries consider the process of signing the loan agreement as a major turning point and one of the main factors in the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, in addition, they say that the financial provision of the project will finally advance the infrastructure project that has been dormant for a quarter of a century and is important for the region.

This 535 km long project envisages the creation of a railway artery that will connect Kashgar (China) with Andijan (Uzbekistan) via strategically important points in Kyrgyzstan - Torugart, Makmal and Jalal-Abad.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 4.7 billion dollars. According to the agreement, the Chinese side will provide a loan of 2.3 billion dollars to the joint venture for a period of 35 years. As experts note, the main financial burden will fall on Beijing.

The remaining 2.3 billion US dollars will be contributed to the company's authorized capital by three countries in the following ratio: China - 51%, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - 24.5%, respectively.

After the completion of the project, logistics from China to Europe will improve. First of all, the time for cargo delivery will be reduced by 7–8 days and transportation restrictions will be lifted.

According to forecast calculations, after the completion of construction, the annual cargo turnover from 2040 to 2050 will reach 8–10 million tons, with the prospect of electrification of the line in the future. The construction of the railway is expected to take six years.

Transport construction experts note that the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project is technically extremely difficult to implement, since more than 45% of the route passes through difficult mountainous terrain, in zones of high seismic activity, which requires the construction of more than 80 bridges and 40 tunnels, including three main tunnels, each of which will be more than 12 kilometers long.

The new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will be aimed at supplying cargo from China in a regional context, including the corridor passing through Georgia, bypassing Russia.

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