China-Europe freight trains see explosive growth amid COVID-19

NUR-SULTAN -- China-Europe freight trains passing through Kazakhstan witnessed explosive growth amid COVID-19, with freight volume in the first nine months of 2020 already exceeding last year's total, Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao tweeted on Monday.

These trains carry a large number of epidemic prevention supplies and cross-border packages, which guarantees the supply of anti-epidemic materials and maintains the stability of the supply chain across Eurasia, said Zhang.

Statistics from Kazakhstan's national railway company show that in the first seven months of this year, the number of containers shipped by China-Europe freight trains via Kazakhstan has increased by 61 percent to 290,000.

Bilateral trade reached $13.2 billion from January to August, a 1-percent year-on-year increase, with the export volume of Kazakh goods to China dipping 10.6 percent to $6.4 billion during the period, while imports jumped 14.8 percent to around $6.8 billion, Zhang added.

The rapid recovery of the Chinese economy has provided an impetus to bilateral ties amid the pandemic, with China's GDP in the third quarter increasing by 4.9 percent, making it the only major economy to see positive growth, said the Chinese ambassador.