A key tunnel has been drilled on a section of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway, a flagship project of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, seen as modern-day remake of the Silk Road.
The 210-metre tunnel is the first tunnel to be completed on the Kyrgyz section since large-scale construction began in 2025. Overall progress on this section has now reached 17%.
Once completed, the CKU railway will span over 500 kilometres, 305 kilometres of which will run through Kyrgyzstan.
It will link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region to Andijan in Uzbekistan, cutting through the mountains of Kyrgyzstan along the way.
From "landlocked" to "land-linked": CKU railway opens a new development corridor #CGTNFirstVoice pic.twitter.com/XPSXgnBDhg
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) September 6, 2026
This new railway line will be the shortest overland route from China to the Middle East and Europe, establishing a vital new trade corridor that bypasses Russia.
Compared with the existing China-Europe Railway Express, the CKU is expected to cut transit times by up to eight days. Currently, all three main China-Europe routes pass through Russia or Kazakhstan.
According to China’s state broadcaster CCTV, China’s southern Xinjiang province is set to benefit directly from this new westward opening. So too will landlocked Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which will gain direct access to the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets.
Tunnels through mountains, bridges across valleys. The Kyrgyz section of the #China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is taking shape – built by Chinese and Kyrgyz workers side by side, with friendship growing along the way.#China #Kyrgyzstan pic.twitter.com/iaCRm7ESDD
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) August 30, 2026
Construction has already begun on 27 tunnels, 43 bridges and 88 sections of roadbed, as momentum builds. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, twenty railway stations along the route are also under construction.
Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Kyrgyzstan. The two countries issued a joint statement pledging to ensure the project’s construction proceeds smoothly.
The project began in 1997, at a time when China was accelerating its economic opening and expanding its engagement beyond its borders. However, it was delayed for decades by a host of obstacles, ranging from topological constraints and technical gauge disagreements to geopolitical sensitivities.
Many of these obstacles have since been resolved, and compromises found.
A landmark is being built in the heart of Central Asia.
— Mao Ning 毛宁 (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing) August 31, 2026
The China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway—a signature infrastructure project under the Belt and Road Initiative. pic.twitter.com/AiP1Ge7sML
The gauge issue, for example, has been resolved with a dual-gauge system: Chinese standard gauge up to Makmal in Kyrgyzstan, and Soviet-era broad gauge from Makmal onwards into Uzbekistan, with a transhipment hub at Makmal.
Li Lifan, director of the Centre for Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told CCTV that this arrangement was significant because it marked China’s standard gauge first entry into “the heart of Central Asia”.
Moscow, however, does not view the project entirely favourably. The new corridor bypasses Russia entirely, which has reportedly raised concerns in Moscow over China’s expanding footprint in Central Asia and the potential diversion of cargo away from traditional transit routes through Russia and Kazakhstan.
Russia’s strategic hold over Central Asia has weakened since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as Western sanctions have pushed Moscow into a closer economic relationship with Beijing, but China’s growing influence in a region long regarded as part of Russia’s sphere of influence has created a new layer of competition between the two countries.
Despite this rivalry, Moscow is continuing to deepen their economic ties with Beijing. According to Russian outlet Izvestia, Russia is expanding its existing rail crossings and discussing new highway systems to facilitate the growing trade between the two countries.
Kyrgyzstan, meanwhile, has increasingly sought alternative sources of foreign investment.
The CKU railway is currently expected to become operational by June 2031, according to chief engineer Xi Jihong, but some parties seem more eager than others to see the project completed sooner. Uzbek deputy transport minister Jasurbek Choriev said in June that the country aims to complete the railway by 2028.
