Published
06/16/2026, 16:31Kyrgyzstan plans to secure a loan of 2.075 billion yuan ($306.9 million) for the construction of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway. The draft agreement has already been submitted to the Parliament for ratification.
The loan will be provided by the Export-Import Bank of China for a term of 25 years. The first five years will be a grace period, and the interest rate will be 1.5% per annum. The Chinese side has undertaken to pay the interest on the portion of the loan amounting to 730 million yuan itself.
The 304-kilometre railway line will run through Kyrgyzstan and form part of an international route connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
The project is considered one of the largest infrastructure projects in Kyrgyzstan’s history. The new railway is expected to strengthen the country’s transit potential and create an additional transport corridor between Asia and Europe.
The issue of financing has come to the fore following the project’s transition from years of negotiations to practical implementation. A joint venture has already been established for the construction, in which Kyrgyzstan holds a 245% stake.
The preliminary cost of constructing the railway is estimated at $4.7 billion. Of this, China will provide $2.3 billion in the form of a loan, whilst the remainder will be invested by China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in proportion to their shares in the joint venture: 51%, 24.5% and 24.5% respectively.
