Railways and trade routes: Beijing's hands on Kyrgyzstan

The gigantic Manas logistic-commercial centre in the village of Leninskoe, which the Chinese are building not far from Biškek, is a candidate to become a fundamental junction (and alternative to the Russian route) for trade between East and West. With Kyrgyz Prime Minister Žaparov having already dubbed it the ‘great seaport’ of a landlocked country.

Biškek (AsiaNews) - China is intervening more and more extensively and actively in Kyrgyzstan, carrying out many infrastructure projects, no longer fearing competition from Russia, as documented by several local and international websites. The construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line, entrusted to the joint venture of the ‘Kyrgyz-Chinese Investment Holding Company’, is expected to start soon, following Biškek's promises to start work as early as last October, in order to open up one of the main sections of the Middle Corridor as an alternative to the Northern Corridor of Russia and Kazakhstan, and the South Asian Corridor.

At the same time, other projects worth billions of dollars have already been underway in Kyrgyzstan for years, financed largely by Chinese capital. Back in 2007, a Swedish consulting company had stated that Kyrgyzstan ‘is the most convenient country for Santa Klaus’, by virtue of its centrality on the world map, to bring presents around the world, given also ‘the amount of money pouring into this country’. The problem is that Father Christmas can move through the air in a flying reindeer sleigh, while Kyrgyzstan's problem remains that of land transport, which is still very deficient between mountainous routes, roads full of sinkholes and the lack of bridges.

These limitations have not stopped the Chinese, who see in the South Tatar-Mongolian country an effective alternative to Russia and the neighbouring Kazakhstan, with which there is no lack of joint development projects. The trans-Eurasian railway requires an investment of several billion dollars, and could really change the dynamics of trade between East and West, reducing the delivery time of Chinese cargoes to Europe by at least a week.

The most highly symbolic project, already underway, is the gigantic Manas logistic-commercial centre in the village of Leninskoe, not far from Biškek, under the responsibility of the Hunan Construction Investment Group (Hcig), for which the first construction phase has been started for USD 700 million, rising to at least USD 4 billion. Spread over 700 hectares, it includes areas for storage, logistics, sales and trade. Almost certainly a major station of the new railway will be located here, although the currently approved plan does not provide for this, as Leninskoe is on the side of the border with Kazakhstan, and not towards the mountainous areas that are to be crossed.

China's Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Du Dewen, on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the future railway on 17 October, praised Kyrgyzstan as a ‘uniting country’, important not only for Central Asia, but for the entire continent and Europe. The diplomat confirmed that the trade hub is also important for rail transport, along which other markets, warehouses, and logistics centres are to be accommodated. In fact, 49 other similar projects are under discussion, in addition to Manas, named after the mythical hero of Kyrgyzstan.

Prime Minister Akylbek Žaparov likened the centre to a ‘great seaport’: although Kyrgyzstan does not have access to the sea, and although trade with the Chinese from all over the world is more than 25 per cent by sea routes, this project will in fact give Kyrgyz people access to the waters. This will allow a great development of agriculture, industry, mineral extraction and the use of new technologies. The Manas will thus offer valuable competition to the other ‘land port’ Khorgos, a large Chinese centre on the border between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan, a landmark of the ‘Northern Corridor’.

Russia watches helplessly as China expands into these territories, as an inevitable condition of Beijing's support for Moscow's war against Ukraine, and this line of development now appears unstoppable, whatever the future prospects for geopolitical balance.