reply China-Turkey New Corridor Achieves Great Connectivity between Asia and Europe

Turkmenistan, located in Central Asia, was once an important node on the ancient Silk Road. Nowadays, Turkmenistan's strategy of “revitalizing the Silk Road” is highly compatible with China's initiative of building the “Belt and Road”. In recent years, China and Turkmenistan have been deepening practical cooperation in the areas of building the “One Belt, One Road” and promoting the high-quality development of China-European liner trains, and the prospects for cooperation between the two countries' railroads are broad. In June this year, the Memorandum of Understanding between China State Railway Group Corporation and the Railway Department of the Transport and Communications Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan was signed, and the cooperation in the field of transportation represented by railroads between the two countries is expected to achieve more results, which is of great importance for further strengthening bilateral economic and trade ties, developing international railroad transportation corridors passing through China and Turkmenistan, upgrading the level of Asia-Europe Railway connectivity, and carrying out international rail freight transportation cooperation between the two countries and between the two countries in transit to a third country. International railroad cargo transportation cooperation between the two countries and transit countries to third countries is of great significance.According to the reporter's understanding, Turkmenistan is actively promoting the construction of cross-border transportation railroad system, wanting to make Turkmenistan become a large-scale “transit hub” in the Eurasian continent transportation system. At present, the total length of railroads in Turkmenistan is more than 5,000 kilometers, with more than 700 railroad bridges, which has basically formed the railroad traffic pattern of east-west and north-south connection. Turkmenistan has railroad connections with neighboring Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Kazakhstan. It is worth mentioning that the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad line was opened in 2014, which not only strengthens Turkmenistan's ties with other countries, but also provides new opportunities for its economic development and international cooperation.China and Turkmenistan, both members of the Railway Cooperation Organization, have been maintaining good cooperative relations within the framework of the multilateral platform and have achieved fruitful results. In the field of cross-border railroad infrastructure cooperation, China-made locomotives, coaches and other railroad equipment account for more than 80% of Turkmenistan's market share, and bear more than 90% of Turkmenistan's railroad capacity. the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the two countries in June makes the opening of a new transportation channel with a more realistic policy basis, which will further open up the railroad transportation channel between China and Europe, and promote the win-win development for mutual benefit. It is reported that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to railroad transportation cooperation between China and Turkmenistan, and actively supports the development of international railroad cargo transportation from China to Turkmenistan and across Turkmenistan to Europe, especially container transportation.Transportation infrastructure not only promotes economic and social development along the routes, but also enhances the level of regional connectivity and has a significant impact on the geopolitical and economic landscape. Sino-Turkmen railroad cooperation can further smooth the railroad transportation corridor between China and Europe and promote mutually beneficial and win-win development.