Altai (transport corridor)

Russia and China, having a total border of 54.57 km in the Altai mountain region, nevertheless, do not have direct ground transportation. This section of the Russian-Chinese border is not equipped with checkpoints. In the late 1990s, Russian and Chinese leaders began discussing plans to build a direct road from Urumqi to Novosibirsk here. The Chinese leadership has repeatedly expressed interest in this in order to intensify relations between the rapidly developing Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Western Siberia ^[1] . According to the Chinese side, it can complete the construction of roads to the Kanas border pass in two years.

International border status

The state border line between the Russian Federation and China is defined by international agreements: Chuguchagsky 1863, St. Petersburg 1881, documents on the demarcation of the state border of 1999.

In 2012, work was carried out to verify and demarcate the western part of the Russian-Chinese state border. In the process of demarcation between the Russian and Chinese sides, disagreements were revealed along the line of crossing the state border. The Chinese side insisted on shifting the border line inland to Russia. The area of ​​the disputed territory is 17 hectares ^[2] . The parties agreed to consider the differences at the next meeting of the Russian-Chinese commission on conducting a joint check of the state border line.

In recent years, trade between the two countries has increased, including not only through the Russian Far East, but also in the western direction - from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China to Western Siberia.

Russian Railways in 2017 announced that they are ready to build a railway to China through Altai. Surveys showed that it is technically possible to build a railway through Altai. During the construction of the railway to China, it will be necessary to build two tunnels - one in China (23 km long) and the second, 20-kilometer - in Russia.

In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, bordering eight countries, there are 105 direct international road routes. Xinjiang accounts for half of China's international road transport routes. Last year, the gross freight turnover on the region’s international motor routes amounted to 610 million ton-kilometers, passenger turnover - 120 million man-kilometers.

Currently, there are poorly developed transport corridors from Western China to Russia via Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Moreover, the Mongolian corridor is infrastructurally weaker than the Kazakh one (this is evidenced by the fact that the cargo from Xinjiang to Russia is sent through Kazakhstan crossings (Dostyk, Bakhty, Maykapchagai, and not the Taikishken checkpoint on the Chinese-Mongolian border) ^[3] .

In December 2018, China proposed to build a conduit from the Altai Territory to China. The project consists of two stages. In the first, until 2026, it is planned to build the first phase with a capacity of 600-700 million cubic meters. m and a network of distribution pipelines. After the completion of the second stage, until 2040, the capacity will increase to 1.8-2.4 billion cubic meters. m per year. The length of the pipeline from Russia to China will be, according to experts, 1.2-1.5 thousand km. Based on the length of the conduit of at least 1.2 thousand km, the budget of the first stage of the project is from $ 10.3 billion to $ 13.4 billion. The budget of the second stage (from 2027 to 2040) is up to $ 70–75 billion. 70 million cubic meters in XUAR m of water from the Altai Territory: just such an excess is formed in the region as a result of spring floods. Altai Krai regularly suffers from spring floods; as a result, the seasonal excess of water reaches 75-100 million cubic meters. m. In order not to disrupt the natural process of reproducing water resources, the annual volume of water transfer from Altai, according to Chinese experts, should not exceed 1% of the total flow ^[4] .

In this situation, Kazakhstan begins to play a leading role in the transit of goods from China to Europe and in the opposite direction. So, over the past year, the Kazakh authorities have taken a number of measures that enshrine the role of Kazakhstan as the main transport intermediary between the western regions of China, Central and Central Asia and Europe. Among these measures are the modernization of the Khorgos checkpoint and the intensification of the use of the Alashankou checkpoint, which is predicted to overtake the Manzhouli checkpoint located on the Russian-Chinese border in the Trans-Baikal Territory in the coming years.

Kazakhstan is extremely interested in creating a developed transit network in the south of the Altai Republic. We are talking, for example, about the construction of the Gorno-Altaysk-Ridder road. The presence of this transport highway would reduce the path from the East Kazakhstan region to the Kosh-Agach region of the Altai Republic or the Bayan-Ulgiy aimag of Mongolia by hundreds of kilometers. In addition, within the framework of the international coordination council “Our Common Home - Altai” (unites the legislative bodies of the border regions of China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan - Greater Altai ), Kazakhstan has repeatedly expressed interest in developing transit routes from China to Western Siberia through its territory and the territory of Mongolia. In the case of the development of transit routes from Xinjiang to Siberia, China will be forced to give the border crossing Taikishken (Altai county of China) - Bulgan (Bayan-Ulsky aimak of Mongolia) international status. Now this transition is bilateral, it can only be used by citizens of the PRC and Mongolia.

Passes through the Ukok plateau. The Ukok Plateau is located in the south of the Altai Republic, at the very junction of the borders of the four largest states of Asia: Russia, Kazakhstan , China and Mongolia . From China there is the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region . The Republic of Altai is located on the part of the Russian Federation. The Ukok Plateau lies at high altitudes, and its climate is severe. The average annual temperature in Ukok is from −7 to −9 degrees. Winter temperatures below −50 degrees are not uncommon for the plateau. The average July temperature is from +7 to +11 degrees. The main passes leading from Ukok to Mongolia (Ulan-Daba, 2695 m), to China (Kanas, 2650 m); to Russia (Teply Klyuch, 2906 m; Akkol, 2769 m; Bogomuyus, 2844 m) - open only from May to September. At any time of the year, we easily pass only the Ukok pass, connecting the plateau with the Bukhtarma river valley in East Kazakhstan (2519 m).

• All links in the plot "Construction of the Altai Road and Gas Pipeline to China"