Reaping rewards

Baitumanova says she has noticed that more Chinese are visiting Almaty, and businesses in both countries are reaping the rewards.

Even as filled-to-the-brim suitcases like those of Baitumanova are fueling trade, freight workhorses in the form of the Tianshan China-Europe (China-Central Asia) freight train have emerged as a modern caravan connecting China to Central Asia and Europe. Urumqi and Almaty serve as core hubs for this line.

Li Gang, general manager of Xinjiang International Land Port Group, says that in the first 11 months of this year Tianshan freight trains made 714 trips, moving more than 1.3 million tons of exports and imports valued at nearly 19.5 billion yuan ($2.77 billion). A milestone was reached in March last year with the launch of the full-timetable Tianshan China-Europe freight trains from Urumqi to Almaty.

The service enables Tianshan freight trains to run according to prearranged schedules.

The Urumqi-Almaty line now operates on a fixed weekly frequency, an important upgrade from previous services, Li says. As a key destination and the economic center of Kazakhstan, Almaty directly benefits from it. The service has expanded to Kazakhstan, and beyond, driving nearly 29 billion yuan in total import and export trade since its operation, he says.

Gulnar Shaimergenova, director of the China Studies Center in Kazakhstan, says the operation of freight trains via Urumqi and Almaty has in effect transformed these sister cities into logistics hubs linking China's inland regions with the Eurasian continent.

"This establishes a robust new architecture for our countries, significantly driving growth in trade, transit transport and industrial collaboration."

The Almaty-Urumqi linkage mechanism has become the "core engine" for pragmatic collaboration between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang, she says.

The efficient and stable operation of the China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight trains has facilitated a rising two-way flow of goods made in China and Central Asian quality products, Lyu says.

This momentum has transformed the link between Urumqi and Almaty from a question of whether it connects to how fast, stable, and well it connects. This evolution, he says, provides solid support for deep collaboration in logistics, trade and manufacturing, bringing tangible development opportunities to countries along the route. "While powerfully boosting regional connectivity, the trains are also conveying trust and collaboration."

Urumqi and Almaty are key gateway cities in their respective countries for engagement with Central Asia, Lyu says. Friendly ties between the two cities reflect the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership at the local level.

"We look forward to both sides contributing more to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the building of a China-Central Asia community with a shared future."

Fang Aiqing and Shao Xinying contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at wanghaoran@chinadaily.com.cn.