In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the titanic New Silk Roads project, officially called the Belt and Road Initiative. Since then, some 150 countries have joined this initiative aimed, among other things, at building roads, railways and ports to facilitate trade with China. A look at the dry port of Khorgos, located in Kazakhstan a few kilometers from the Chinese border, which has become, since its commissioning in August 2015, a key transit point for goods leaving China by rail to conquer the European market. This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat-International Journalism Fund.The duty.
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Nearly a thousand containers from China pass through the dry port of Khorgos every day. Inside are a host of Chinese products, including electric cars that have literally taken the Central Asian and Russian markets by storm in recent years. During the visit this fall, around 15,000 Chinese electric cars were scattered around the site before continuing on their way. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In the administrative offices of the dry port of Khorgos, a map illustrates the maritime and land routes of the Belt and Road Initiative. Kazakhstan (in orange) — the largest landlocked country in the world — occupies a key geographic position. Two rail corridors cross the country: the Trans-Siberian, which leads to Russia and which is experiencing a slowdown due to sanctions imposed by the West, and the Trans-Caspian, which crosses the Caspian Sea to then reach Turkey, which has been growing rapidly since the start of the war in Ukraine. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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All containers arriving in Khorgos on Chinese trains must be transhipped onto Kazakh trains, since the rail gauge is not the same in China and Europe (1435 millimeters) as in the former Soviet bloc countries (1520 millimeters ). Huge cranes hook up the containers, one by one, to lift them, move them using overhead rails and place them, a few meters further, on Kazakh trains. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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The Khorgos dry port, which came into operation in 2015, operates 24 hours a day. A dozen trains, each carrying 50 to 60 containers, arrive daily from the Middle Kingdom. In the photo, Chinese electric cars can be seen coming out of containers arriving from China. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Left: It takes about an hour to transship a full train using these huge cranes. By rail, Chinese goods reach Europe in 14 days. By sea, the journey, although less expensive, is three times longer, spanning 40 to 60 days. Right: The snow-capped peaks of Tian Shan (which means “heavenly mountains” in Chinese) followed us throughout our journey on the new Silk Roads. This majestic mountain range stretches nearly 3,000 kilometers across China and Central Asia. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A special economic zone, offering a tax holiday to businesses, has been created on the site which adjoins the dry port of Khorgos. Around forty companies are located in this 225-hectare industrial park, including the company Miami Solar, which wishes to export solar panels to the United States. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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3 kilometers from the dry port is the small town of Nurkent, which was built to accommodate workers from the port, special economic zone and customs. Around 3,000 people currently live there, but the government predicts that it should eventually accommodate 100,000 inhabitants. Several fully furnished accommodations are offered free of charge to these employees. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A painting in a hotel in Zharkent, a few dozen kilometers from Khorgos, recalls the nomadic past of the Kazakh people. There we find all the symbols that make them proud: yurts, horses, steppes and even camels from the Silk Road. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Modernity rubs shoulders with tradition in this photo where we see a yurt, a vestige of nomadism. The Kazakhs once stayed in these dwellings made of a frame of wood and rope, covered with felt. In the background, the Tian Shan mountains disappear under the clouds. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A free trade zone has been created on the border between China and Kazakhstan. Many consumers go there to find deals. In the photo are fur hats that will soon warm real heads. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In the free trade zone, many stores offer their customers fur coats made in Canada, available in multiple models and colors. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Leaving Khorgos to go to Almaty, the metropolis of Kazakhstan located about 300 kilometers away, we see the railway which is crisscrossed by trains loaded with Chinese goods heading towards Europe. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In Kazakhstan, the vast majority of animals intended for human consumption are raised outdoors on pasture. On their horses, Nagashybay and Zhaqsylyq monitor their herd of 140 cows and 300 sheep. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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