The «One Belt, One Road» concept is an international initiative of China aimed at improving existing and creating new trade routes. It was first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in autumn 2013 during visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, the countries in Central Asia (CA) became acutely aware of the severe limitations related to their transportation routes. With heavy dependence on Moscow, CA countries decided to engage in diversification of their import- export channels. For Bishkek and Tashkent such attempts resulted in the renewed interest in advancing the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway project.