China-EuropeTrainTripsSkirtingRussiaSurgeNearly80%

China-Europe freight train trips along a corridor that bypasses Russia have surged nearly 80% this year, reflecting growing demand for more reliable trade routes amid geopolitical uncertainty.

The increase comes as Chinese state-owned railway operators step up investments in overseas logistics infrastructure to support the corridor and strengthen broader cross-border freight networks.

As of June 15, more than 340 China-Europe freight train services had operated via the “southern corridor,” averaging more than two trains a day, up 78% from a year earlier, China Railway Container Transport Corp. Ltd. said last week at a logistics fair in Shanghai. 

Four established routes have been developed along the corridor, including one via the Caspian Sea and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to Turkey and Europe, another via the Caspian and Black seas through Romania and Bulgaria, an all-rail route through Central Asia, Iran and Turkey, and a multimodal route via the Mediterranean to Italy and Greece.

The corridor, also known as the Middle Corridor or the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, is taking on growing strategic importance amid mounting geopolitical uncertainty. Traditional routes via Russia have faced Western boycotts and logistical disruptions following the Russian-Ukraine war that broke out in early 2022, prompting traders and shippers to seek alternatives.

More recently, the outbreak of the war involving the U.S., Israel and Iran in late February disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. With uncertainty over the route persisting, shippers have increasingly turned to land transport.

The corridor should be viewed not merely as a transport route but as an emerging economic ecosystem that supports manufacturing, industrial cooperation, digital solutions and financial services alongside freight transportation, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said at the Summer Davos in Dalian last week.

Kazakhstan hopes to further strengthen infrastructure connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative by expanding and upgrading transport infrastructure and cross-border transport networks linking Asia and Europe, Bektenov said, adding that closer coordination among participating countries would be essential because no single nation could accomplish the task alone.

In late 2025, China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. joined an international joint venture formed by the state railway operators of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia to jointly operate the corridor.

The investment is part of a broader effort by Chinese railway companies to strengthen overseas operations supporting China-Europe freight services.

On Nov. 18, China Railway Container partnered with four Chinese regional operators to establish Asia-Europe Interconnection Holdings (Beijing) Co. Ltd., which serves as the overseas agency platform for the European leg of China-Europe freight train services.

By unifying supplier quotes and offering guided market rates, the platform aims to lower overseas transit costs, Yang Jie, general manager of Shanghai-based freight forwarder Eurasia Logistics, told Caixin.

A similar centralized setup is already in place for Russian routes to prevent operators from falsely inflating prices to secure subsidies, and the Central Asian routes may eventually follow suit, Yang added.

To support these unified platforms, state logistics companies are also acquiring physical assets abroad. CRM Supply Chain Technology Group Co. Ltd. is finalizing an agreement with Asia-Europe Interconnection and plans to acquire a European railway flatcar company to serve the platform, general manager Ouyang Bing said at the logistics fair. The company also plans to acquire two warehouses in Budapest and Duisburg.

In Russia, it is preparing a joint venture with Ilim Group for log transport, planning a timber logistics hub in Siberia and building overseas warehouses in multiple border and transit cities. In Central Asia, the company aims to set up grain and oil transit hubs in Kazakhstan and establish warehouses in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Contact editor Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com)