The first cargo shipment sent from far-eastern China has made its way to Iran through Kazakhstan.
The cargo that includes bicycle and industrial machinery parts, wallpaper, brake pads, among other items, was sent from the Ningbo Port in the East China Sea late November. It was put on freight trains towards the Chineses city of Khorgos on the border with Kazakhstan.
The shipment continued its journey through the Kazakh territory via raidroad to Port of Aktau on the eastern bank of the Caspean Sea. From there, it was loaded into 40 containers on the Iranian bulk carrier Diba heading for the Caspin Port in Iran's Anzali Free Zone.
This is the first cargo that arrives in from the eastern-most part of China through the Kazakhstan corridor. The China-Kazakhstan-Iran multi-modal transit corridor was inaugurated late last June when first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri annoucned the arrival of the first cargo. The advantage of this new commercial route is that its cuts short both the distance and the costs that are incurred through maritime transit. Previous shipment came in from western Chinese ports.
Ningbo is a city in the northeastern Zhejiang Province of China, 25 kilometers west of the Sea of China. It's one of the most important industrial and commercial ports of the country. It is considered as a small sample of Shanghai in the Chinese economy and its port has been ranked second in terms of operational capability in commercial shipments, according to Anzali Free Trade Zone. The capacity of the rail and maritime transit route is estimated to be 10 million tons of cargo.
Anzali is Iran's only free zone in the north and connects the country to the Commeanwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia and other Caspean Sea nations.
"This is a great opportunity for Iran," Said Mostafa Salari, governor of the norther Iranian Gilan Province, who received the ship accompanied by local officials and some lawmakers.
"The Caspian Port in Anzali is exempt from the problems that southern coasts are facing," added Salari, referring to the difficulties in port use and other maritime services that have been caused by renewed US sanctions on Iran when Donald Trump Administration walked out of the 2015 international nuclear treaty with Iran. The official siad he hoped cargo transit through this new route increases so Tehran can upgrade its foreing trade.
The Caspea Sea is shared by Russia, Kazakhistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, all of which have reiterated their support for the nuclear deal in the face of the unilateral US sanctions that went into effect last November.