Construction of a new railway line Darbaza — Maktaaral with a length of 152 km started in Turkestan region. Alikhan Smailov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, gave an official start to the works in the mode of teleconference.

China’s railway investment in the first quarter hit its highest level since 2013 amid government efforts to boost the economy and expand infrastructure in Western border regions that are of ever-increasing security and economic importance.