Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- According to experts, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, for nine months of this year, transportation of containers along the China-Europe route made up 388,000 units (an increase of 61% compared to the same period in 2019).

The main reasons for the growth of container traffic were: 1) the launch of new routes along the China-Europe line (from the cities of Tangshan, Shijiazhuang, Gaoi); 2) the cheapness of rail transport compared to air and sea transport; 3) an increase in the demand for supplies to Europe and Asia of goods made in China.

Today, more than 85% of transit containers go through Kazakhstan, while the volume of traffic through Russia and Mongolia has begun to decline. So, through the Kazakhstani Dostyk and Altynkol only in the first four months of this year. 124 thousand containers passed (an increase of 48.5% over the same period of 2019), 7.9 thousand containers passed through the Russian Federation (a decrease of 15%), through Mongolia - 2.6 thousand (a decrease of 65%)

Another growing route of transit is from China through the Kazakh Saryagash to the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan. According to which for the first four months of this year. 65 thousand containers delivered (up 26%).

At the same time, a number of problems remain for the organization of container transportation, including:

1) shortage of railway cars and congestion of ports in China;

2) an increase in traffic volumes, which creates barriers at transit points at the borders of Poland-Belarus and China-Kazakhstan;

3) China’s fear of the EU’s imposition of sanctions against Belarus, which could threaten the stable transportation of goods on the China-Europe route.

In general, it is emphasized that in the post-pandemic period, against the background of measures taken to build up and diversify the economy (search for new markets, expand exports, etc.), the relevance of the China-Europe railway route will increase even more. Under these conditions, observers note the growing importance of countries, including the Central Asian states, through whose territories the China-Europe railway route passes.