China hopes to expand its business with Azerbaijan using the Trans-Caspian route

Almaty. June 10. Silkroadnews – China hopes to increase the railroad volume of goods traffic using the products by the Azerbaijani companies, the head of department on goods traffic control of the National Railway Administration of China said in his interview with Trend.

“China gives great attention to cooperation with the countries which this corridor is passing through – i.e. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan – and we hope this cooperation to be even more successful. China and Azerbaijan support a very good relationship in the framework of cooperation both at the government and business levels,” the official said.

He also added, China is interested to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan to develop the container trains traffic through the corridor and jointly work to boost “one belt, one road” strategy.

“We welcome the Azerbaijani companies’ intentions to continue work and cooperation with China. Cargo traffic from China to Europe is quite high, yet the opposite direction is not that developed. We hope the Azerbaijani companies will contribute to improve the flow of goods in the opposite direction as well.”

He also expressed confidence that there shall be a large number of container trains operating within the framework of the Trans-Caspian route, as there is a close cooperation between the Chinese and Azerbaijani railways in this regard.

“China also pays great attention to the development of container transportation to Europe. At present, the Chinese railway departments analyze the potential volumes of cargo to be transported through the corridor on a regular basis and the specific numbers will be calculated within the nearest future,” the head of transportation department said.
The Trans-Caspian international transport route runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then, through Turkey and Ukraine, goes to Europe.

In July-August of this year another two freight trains will go from China through Azerbaijan to the Georgian port of Poti.