As is well known, cross-border e-commerce is currently the top stream of air cargo transportation, and Central Asia is showing a trend of becoming a new blue ocean for cross-border e-commerce.
The Central Asian region is not only at the crossroads of the Eurasian continent, but also a peripheral area connected to China by mountains and rivers, and interdependent. China is also a major trading country for the five Central Asian countries, with a large amount of goods transported from China to Central Asia every year.
Moreover, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, the market and capital links between Central Asian countries and Russia have been cut off. In the past, the export routes to Europe via Russia were blocked by Western countries. Under the "the Belt and Road" initiative, China can not only provide Central Asian countries with large routes to Southeast Asia and East Asia, but also open alternative routes to Europe.
Among the five Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan has consistently ranked first in trade relations with China.
Kazakhstan, the "superpower" among the five Central Asian countries, is located in the hinterland of Eurasia and is the largest landlocked country in the world. It is rich in natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals. It is a must for the ancient Silk Road and the first place to jointly build the "the Belt and Road".
In the 11 years since the "the Belt and Road" initiative, China and Kazakhstan have successfully carried out cooperation in connectivity, production capacity, economy, trade, people to people and cultural exchanges, and achieved fruitful results. According to official data statistics, the bilateral trade volume between China and Kazakhstan will reach 41.02 billion US dollars in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 32%, achieving the goal of reaching 40 billion US dollars in trade by 2030 proposed by the two heads of state ahead of schedule. With increasingly close exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, China has become one of Kazakhstan's largest trading partners.
In this context, an international freight route connecting North China with important cities in Central Asia, the Taiyuan to Almaty route in Kazakhstan, has emerged, providing new options for shippers and freight forwarders.
Furthermore, for Central Asia, Almaty may continue to maintain its position as a logistics hub, but the most likely alternative to its location is Tashkent.