On 1 June 2025, the first container train was dispatched from the China-Kazakhstan terminal in Xi’an, China, to the new, also joint, Zhetys terminal in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which is expected to be operational on 10 June 2025.
The infrastructure of the Zhetysu terminal will provide a full range of logistics services, including warehousing, customs clearance, and door-to-door delivery. Due to its advantageous location at the intersection of international transport routes, the terminal will become a strategic hub for the consolidation and distribution of cargo flows from China, as well as a leading logistics center in Kazakhstan.
Construction of the terminal, based on the Kedentransservice operator’s cargo yard in Almaty, began in October 2023. In April 2025, the operator and Jinhua—one of China’s largest transport and investment groups—signed a memorandum of intent regarding the development of this logistics complex.
The China-Kazakhstan terminal, located in Chanba, Xi’an’s largest international dry port, began trial operations in December 2023. Xi’an is a major transport hub in China. Around 30 percent of all container trains heading to Europe are assembled in Chanba, and about 40 percent of imports from CIS countries arrive there. The main clients of the Chanba port include large automotive companies, electronics manufacturers, and producers of machinery and metal goods.
The 100,000th container was shipped from the Xi’an terminal in early June 2025 along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR). In total, more than 200,000 tonnes of cargo has passed through the terminal and the flow of containers along the TITM has increased by more than 30 times .
