Uzbekistan pins hopes on China-Kyrgyzstan railway to end landlocked isolation

Uzbekistan is looking to a new railway connecting it with China via Kyrgyzstan as a strategic answer to its geographic isolation, a senior lawmaker said.

Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairman of the Senate of Uzbekistan's national parliament, noted that the country is doubly landlocked, meaning it and all its neighbours lack direct sea access. He said transport costs can eat up to 20 percent of the value of its exports and imports, calling that a heavy burden.

But Safoyev also pointed to Uzbekistan's unique position: it is the only Central Asian state that shares a border with all other countries in the region, and it sits close to four major markets — Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and China. He said the goal is to transform Uzbekistan from a landlocked to a "land-linked" country, and that China's Belt and Road Initiative has been strategically important since Tashkent backed it from 2012.

The railway project, which runs from Kashgar in China's Xinjiang region through Kyrgyzstan's mountains into Uzbekistan, is now moving toward practical implementation. Safoyev said it could carry up to 15 million tonnes of cargo annually and cut the travel time between China and Europe by about a week.

He acknowledged the project requires significant investment but argued the returns would come quickly. "It is not just a transport corridor; it's a corridor of development," he said, adding that Uzbekistan wants to do more than simply transit goods. The country aims to use the link to build value-added manufacturing and attract forward-looking production.

Safoyev described cooperation with China as one way to overcome geographic isolation and turn Uzbekistan into a regional hub for trade and industry.