Nargiza Umarova examines the accelerating development of transport and logistics links between China and Central Asia within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The author highlights the launch of new railway and road routes connecting China’s major industrial and economic centres with logistics hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
The brief argues that this expansion reflects two closely interconnected developments: the rapid growth of China–Central Asia trade and the region’s increasing importance within Eurasian overland transport networks. In 2025, China became the largest trading partner of all five Central Asian states for the first time, with bilateral trade exceeding US$100 billion following annual growth of 12 per cent.
Umarova also draws attention to the changing structure of regional freight flows. China’s exports to Central Asia, largely consisting of higher-value manufactured goods, are approximately twice the value of its imports from the region, stimulating greater use of containerised transportation. Against this background, the expansion of land routes is strengthening Central Asia’s role as both a growing market for Chinese goods and an increasingly important transit corridor linking China with wider Eurasian markets.
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