35 Chinese trains cross Iran in seven months as int’l rail transport posts 12% growth: Official
The director general of foreign trade of Iran’s Railway praised the achievements of the current government's railway diplomacy, underlining the remarkable growth in Europe-China exchanges via Iran and the arrival of dozens of Chinese trains as the Islamic Republic moves to play a more active intermediary role.
Shahriar Naqizadeh was cited by IRNA as saying that Iran is located at the intersection of the most important corridors in the region, and with the recent six-party agreement in Istanbul, the ground for a leap in China-Europe exchanges via Iran has been provided.
Naqizadeh pointed to the country's unique geographical location, stressing, “Iran is at the center of important regional corridors and, as the corridor crossroads of the region, is the intersection of East-West and North-South corridors.”
Highlighting a historical growth in the entry of Chinese trains and a 12% increase in international rail transport, he said, “Last week in Istanbul, Turkey, we succeeded in reaching an important six-party agreement between China, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Turkey, the goal of which is to develop commodity exchanges from China to Europe via Iran. In this agreement, a very good understanding was reached on two axes: reducing tariff costs and reducing transit time.”
Naqizadeh stressed that the East-West corridor has now been able to reduce the transit time of goods by about one-third compared to the sea route.
Referring to the unprecedented growth of incoming trains from China, Naqizadeh said, “Before 2024, only seven trains had entered Iran from China in seven years; but in the first seven months of this year, the thirty-fifth train is entering the country, and four more trains have departed from Xi'an station and will enter Iran in the coming weeks.”
Pointing to the country's rail performance in the international sector, he said, “In the past year, we succeeded in exceeding five million tons of international transport. This year, despite the challenges, the growth trend continued, and so far, three million and 600 thousand tons of various goods have been transported in the international sector, which shows a 12% increase compared to the same period last year.”