China–Central Asia–West Asia Economic Corridor

The China–Central Asia–West Asia Economic Corridor (abbreviated as CCAWEC) is an economic and transportation corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative, a global economic connectivity program led by China. The corridor was one of the 6 land corridors articulated in the initial vision for the BRI in 2015. It has since the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in 2019 become one of 35 corridors and project officially included in the BRI.^[1][2]

Countries

Academic researchers have variously included the countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Middle East, Balkans and Turkey as part of the corridor. A report on the BRI by the OECD in 2018 classifies the following long list of countries as part of the corridor: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, the Palestinian Authority, Romania, Serbia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.^[3]

Freight route

The train route from Xi'an to Prague

The China Railways Express, the first freight train to travel along the corridor, made its maiden trip in November 2016 from China (Xi'an) to Europe (Prague) in 18 days. The railway service traveled from China to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey (passing through Istanbul's Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosphorus) before arriving in Central Europe. Travelling at an average speed of 40 km/h.^[4]

Related initiatives

See also: Middle Corridor

The areas covered by the corridor overlaps with several other regional transportation initiatives. The Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway going through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey is nicknamed the "Iron Silk Road". The railway line and the Port of Baku rail head are both included in the list BRI corridors and projects. A columnist for the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet saw the railway line as joining with the BRI in the region and challenging Russia's own BRI connected corridor as a primary corridor from China to Europe.^[5]

Significance

CCAWEC provides an alternative land route between China and Europe which avoids Russian territory.^[6]: 107

References

1. "China denies abandoning BCIM corridor". PTI. June 10, 2019.
2. "Joint Communique of the Leaders' Roundtable of the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.
3. "The Belt and Road Initiative in the global trade, investment and finance landscape". OECD.
4. "First train from China to Europe makes 'Silk Railway' dream come true in Turkey". Daily Sabah. 7 November 2019.
5. "The 'Iron Silk Road'". Hurriyet. November 9, 2017.
6. Sahakyan, Mher (2023). "China and the South Caucasus in a Multipolar World Order 2.0". China and Eurasian Powers in a Multipolar World Order 2.0: Security, Diplomacy, Economy and Cyberspace. Mher Sahakyan. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-35258-7. OCLC 1353290533.