China launched first cargo train to Afghanistan

China recently launched its first cargo train to Afghanistan. The train carrying 84 containers departed from Nantong City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, to the Afghanistan city of Hairatan.

• It is China’s first cargo train service to Afghanistan and it takes about 15 days passing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Hairatan is the border town located close to Uzbekistan.
• This move is aimed at consolidating ties with Kabul, as part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative along the ancient Silk Road.
• The decision to run a cargo train follows concerted effort by China to play a leading role in imparting political stability to Afghanistan, in tune with the scaling down of NATO forces from the country.

OBOR:

One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative aims to connect major Eurasian economies through infrastructure, trade and investment.

• The “Belt” is a network of overland road and rail routes, oil and natural gas pipelines, and other infrastructure projects that will stretch from Xi’an in central China through Central Asia and ultimately reach as far as Moscow, Rotterdam, and Venice.
• The “Road” is its maritime equivalent: a network of planned ports and other coastal infrastructure projects that dot the map from South and Southeast Asia to East Africa and the northern Mediterranean Sea.