A ceremony to mark the groundbreaking of a new cross-border railway between China and Mongolia took place on Wednesday at the Ganqimaodu port in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This railway will be the second cross-border railway between the two nations in nearly 70 years, following the Erenhot-Zamyn-Uud railway, which became operational in 1956.
The new China-Mongolia railway, reaching the Mongolian Gashuunsukhait port, is expected to be operational by 2027. It will significantly enhance infrastructure connectivity and economic cooperation along the route, driving improvements in cross-border logistics, industrial parks and border trade services, according to a statement from the Bayannur city government.
This new cross-border railway will provide a vital link to Mongolia's Tavan-Tolgoi coal deposit, one of the largest coal reserves in the country. This coal deposit was previously connected to the Gashuunsukhait port through a railway project that entered operation in 2022, according to a previous report on people.cn.
In addition to the railway, the expansion of the Gashuunsukhait port was inaugurated on the same day. The expansion will increase the number of export and import gates to 22, doubling the port's throughput capacity, Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene announced during the ceremony, emphasizing that Mongolia would become a most trusted partner for China for long-term, stable and reliable coal supply, according to Mongolian national news agency MONTSAME.
This cross-border railway project is expected to increase Mongolia's coal exports to 165 million tons annually, generating an additional $1.5 billion in revenue, MONTSAME reported.
In 2024, Mongolia's coal exports reached 84 million tons, exceeding the government's initial plan of 83.3 million tons and setting a new record. As of May 13, the Ganqimaodu port had imported 12.71 million tons of coal, a decline of 9.18 percent year-on-year, according to official data.
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