China to Begin Lithium-Ion Battery Trial Transport via Middle Corridor
China will initiate trial transportation of lithium-ion batteries this month along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or the Middle Corridor. The plan follows a Dec. 5 meeting between Kazakhstan’s Transport Minister Marat Karabayev and China’s Transport Minister Liu Wei in Beijing, where both sides agreed to jointly develop the route, according to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport.
The Middle Corridor has seen significant growth, with rail traffic between Kazakhstan and China rising 13% to 26.6 million tons from January to October, and road transport increasing 60% between July and September to 1.9 million tons. Transit along the TITR toward Europe has reached over 27,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), a remarkable 25-fold increase compared to last year.
Officials also explored creating new routes and expanding freight transit via transboundary rivers, reinforcing the strategic importance of the corridor for global trade connectivity.
