China has helped some countries build thousands of kilometers of railways as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. The planned railway linking Xinjiang to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is also important. The feasibility study report of the China-Jijiwu Railway Project will be completed by June 1, 2023. According to the Press Service of the Head of State of Uzbekistan, this was learned by President Mirziyoyev during his inspection of the status and implementation plans of major railway infrastructure projects in the country on Friday.

One of the projects is the construction of the 454-kilometer-long China-Kjiborg-Wuhan Railway. A trilateral memorandum of understanding on the project was signed in Samarkand on 14 September.

In November, China Railway First Survey and Design Institute conducted a field survey. A feasibility study for the project is expected to be completed by June 1 next year. Khusnutdin Hasilov, chairman of Uzbekistan's Temir Yullari company, told Uzbekistan 24 TV that the feasibility study report will be prepared by "a leading design agency in China".

"So far, funds for all plans have been paid to the design institute. The China Railway First Survey and Design Institute plans to complete the works by June 1, 2023," he said.

According to him, it is planned to set up a project office in Bishkek by January 15. Uzbekistan will negotiate with Kyrgyzstan on the form and procedures of project management by the end of January and develop a unified program on the main technical characteristics of the railway. Proposals from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will be submitted to the China Design Institute by the end of February.

"By March 10, proposals on the project implementation plan and the project's preliminary feasibility study will be formulated in a tripartite manner. By the end of March, a draft trilateral intergovernmental agreement on project implementation will be formulated and agreed by all parties. To In April, they will start negotiations with international financial institutions," the Uzbek official said.

The project plans to build an international highway "Jalalabad-Makmal-Alpa-Turgat-Kashgar" at the same time. This route through Kyrgyzstan is expected to increase Uzbekistan's transit cargo traffic by 5 million tons.

The Ministry of Transport of Kyrgyzstan reported earlier that the parties intend to share the cost of the feasibility study equally by concluding a trilateral agreement to fund the feasibility study.

The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan pointed out that the implementation of the project will expand the geographical scope of trade and transportation from China to Turkey via Uzbekistan, and then to Europe, as well as the countries of the Persian Gulf. Editor/Xu Shengpeng