Xi welcomes launch of key rail project

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message on Friday to the commencement ceremony of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, expressing the hope that the project will further contribute to the economic and social development of the region and improve the well-being of the peoples.

The ceremony was held in Jalalabad — the third-largest city in Kyrgyzstan — on Friday and attended by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also sent a congratulatory message to the event.

The construction of the railway is a strategic decision made by the three governments to promote regional connectivity, prosperity and stability, which demonstrates the shared aspiration of the people of the three countries to open up this strategic corridor, Xi said in the message.

Xi noted that the commencement ceremony marks the transition of the railway from vision to implementation, taking a crucial step toward the goal of completion and operation.

He underlined the need for relevant departments and enterprises of the three countries to make concerted efforts and advance the construction with high standards and high quality, in order to make the railway a new demonstration project of Belt and Road cooperation.

Xi also expressed the hope that the railway will give new impetus to building a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Japarov said that the railway is not just a transportation corridor but also serves as a strategic bridge between the East and the West.

The project will strengthen Kyrgyzstan's position as a transportation hub, create a great amount of job opportunities, and boost the development of trade, tourism and industry, he said.

Japarov said he is confident that the three countries will complete the construction with high quality, opening up new prospects for shared development in the region.

Mirziyoyev said in his message that the commencement of the project is a critical measure to implement the consensus of the leaders of the three nations and advance mutually beneficial cooperation, and carries great historic significance.

He said that the project will help drive regional trade and integration, facilitate people-to-people and cultural exchanges, build an important bridge of mutual learning among civilizations, and benefit the nations and peoples of the region.

The railway begins in Kashgar in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and enters the territory of Uzbekistan through Kyrgyzstan. In the future, it will reach West Asia and South Asia.

Li Ziguo, director of the Department for European-Central Asian Studies under the China Institute of International Studies, said the railway is poised to dramatically reduce transportation distances and costs for goods traveling from China to Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and improve logistics efficiency, further strengthening trade ties between China and other countries.

It will also enable landlocked countries in Central Asia to better connect to the ocean, he added.

Uzbekistan was the first country to put forward the idea of the railway back in 1996. Over the past nearly three decades, the three countries have engaged in multiple rounds of consultations and negotiations.

In June, the three countries signed an intergovernmental agreement in Beijing on the project, laying a solid legal foundation for the construction of the railway.