China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Boosts Middle Corridor Trade and Transit Cargo

Cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has provided favorable conditions for the development of the Middle Corridor, attracting additional transit and foreign trade cargo. Acting Executive Director for Commercial Affairs of the Aktau Sea Trade Port Anuar Nemyshov highlighted the significant increase in cargo turnover at the port, citing a 14% rise in cargo handling to 3,144 thousand tons in the first 7 months of 2025, compared to 2,756 thousand tons for the same period in 2024. The port has also seen a new cargo, chemical products, being attracted, with a transshipment volume of 60 thousand tons at the end of 2024.

Key Takeaways:

• The Aktau Sea Trade Port receives container cargo transported from China to Europe, with container trains formed and sent in an organized manner along the East-West corridor.
• The structure of trade turnover between China and the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has not changed in recent years, with consumer goods remaining the main volume of cargo transported in containers.
• The main range of cargo handled at the port is oil and oil products, grain crops, metal, containers, and other cargo.
• The Aktau Sea Trade Port's monthly cargo turnover averages 450 thousand tons, with a total cargo handling of 3,144 thousand tons in the first 7 months of 2025, a 14% increase from 2,756 thousand tons in the same period of 2024.
• The port has attracted a new cargo, chemical products, with a transshipment volume of 60 thousand tons at the end of 2024.
• The governments of China and Kazakhstan have reached an agreement on the creation of a comprehensive logistics network on the territory of Kazakhstan, including the investment in the construction of a container hub in the port of Aktau.
• The "Container Hub Construction Project" has a budget of 46.6 billion tenge (approximately 86.5 million US dollars) and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2026.
• The total capacity of the container hub is 240 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year.

Statistics:

• 3,144 thousand tons of cargo handled at the Aktau port in the first 7 months of 2025, a 14% increase from 2,756 thousand tons in the same period of 2024.
• 60 thousand tons of chemical products transshipped at the port in 2024.
• 86.5 million US dollars (approximately 46.6 billion tenge) allocated for the construction of the container hub in the Aktau port.
• 240 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year, the total capacity of the container hub.

Sources:

• Xinhua
• State Council News of the People's Republic of China
• Anuar Nemyshov, Acting Executive Director for Commercial Affairs of the Aktau Sea Trade Port