The New Eurasian Land Bridge, also called the Second or New Eurasian Continental Bridge, is the southern counterpart to the Eurasian Land Bridge and runs through China and Central Asia with possible plans for expansion into South and West Asia. The Eurasian Land Bridge system is important as an overland rail link between China and Europe, with transit between the two via Central Asia and Russia. In the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China halted further investments in the part of the bridge that was planned to go through Russia.[1] After the war began, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route began to actively develop, which passes through the countries of Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the countries of the South Caucasus, bypassing Russia.
Routes
Due to a break-of-gauge between standard gauge used in China and the Russian gauge used in the former Soviet Union countries, containers must be physically transferred from Chinese to Kazakh railway cars at Dostyk and Khorgos on the Chinese–Kazakh border and again at the Belarus–Poland border where the standard gauge used in western Europe begins. This is done with truck-mounted cranes.[2] Chinese media often states that the New Eurasian Land/Continental Bridge extends from Lianyungang to Rotterdam, a distance of 11870 km. The exact route used to connect the two cities is not always specified in Chinese media reports, but appears to usually refer to the route which passes through Kazakhstan.
All rail freight from China across the Eurasian Land Bridge must pass north of the Caspian Sea through Russia at some point. A proposed alternative would pass through Turkey and Bulgaria,[3] but any route south of the Caspian Sea must pass through Iran,[2] although China is (as of 2020) working on the details of the construction of a proposed railway bridge across the Caspian Sea between
Traffic
In 2024, the route through Belarus into Poland carried about 90% of all China–EU rail freight. The rail bridge carried about 3.7% of all EU-China trade, with a goods value of about €25 billion (US$27 billion).[8]
Infrastructure
See also
- Trans-Eurasia Logistics
- Yiwu–Madrid railway line
- Yiwu–London railway line
- North–South Transport Corridor
- Eurasian Land Bridge
- Trans-Caspian International Transport Route
External links and further reading
References
- Mohammadbagher Forough. What Will Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Mean for China's Belt and Road?^
- Keith Bradsher. Hauling New Treasure Along the Silk Road The New York Times, July 20, 2013, retrieved July 21, 2013^
- China Invites Bulgaria to Join High-Speed Asia-Europe Rail with Turkey