AS of late May, the second railway connecting China and Kazakhstan, the 292-kilometre long Jinghe-Yining-Khorgas Railway, has carried nearly 400,000 tonnes of cargo since it started operation in December 2012, of which 379,000 tonnes were for exports.

During the half year, many shipments continuously flowed from east coastal regions and central hinterland of China via Sino-Kazakhstan border checkpoint Khorgas to Central Asia and Europe on more than a hundred runs of cargo train from Lianyungang to Khorgas. Most of the exports handled were high value-added goods such as automobile parts and electronic products.

Khorgas checkpoint's trade cargo handling volume is expected to reach 20 million tonnes by 2020 and 35 million tonnes by 2030, according to Xinhua.

Khorgas checkpoint is located 670 kilometres away from Xinjiang's capital Urumqi and 378 kilometres away from Kazakh city Almaty, offering the shortest distance to major Central Asian cities.