China expands land routes to Central Asia

2026-07-31

Along with geopolitical tensions, which primarily affected the stability of maritime trade routes, China's actions to diversify its export channels and shift the focus from maritime routes to land corridors are striking.

As of 2026, the total number of Chinese cities served by container block trains from China to Europe is 129, connecting China with 235 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, practically covering the entire Eurasia.

As of 2025, China has become the largest trading partner of the Central Asian states. In particular, trade turnover with all five Central Asian states exceeded 100 billion USD in total.

In 2025, more than 20,000 freight block trains were transported along the China-Europe-China land corridor, which is a 25-fold increase over the past 10 years.

In 2025, the total volume of rail container shipments in all directions from China to Europe to China exceeded 2 million TEU.

In the first half of this year, this figure increased by 20% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 11,178 block trains.

Of the 433 block trains transported from China through the Central Corridor in 2025, 400 units were sent from China to the west, only 33 - from the west to the east. Such a ratio indicates a lack of “reverse” cargoes along the Middle Corridor.

It is noteworthy that over the past three years, the share of block trains transported via Central Asia in the total railway transportation of China - Europe - China has increased. If in 2023 it amounted to 1.5%, in 2024 it increased to 1.8%, and in 2025 it reached 2.2%.

The dynamics of the growth of the percentage ratio of container block trains along the Middle Corridor in total transportation indicates the effectiveness of the development of the corridor, but the ratio of 2.2%, given the potential of the ambitious Middle Corridor, is not a high indicator.

The countries participating in the Middle Corridor have approved a plan for 2026, which envisages the transportation of 600 container block trains from China during the year.

In the first three months of 2026, 125 block trains from China were transported through Kazakhstan. This figure is 35% higher than the same period in 2025, which suggests that in 2026 the container flow from China via the Middle Corridor will increase and reach 2.5% of the total volume.

Increasing the share of block trains transported via the Middle Corridor in the total volume of China - Europe - China to 5% by 2030 (1200-1500 block trains per year) should be a joint strategic guideline for the countries participating in the corridor.

Source: transcor.ge