Chinese road transport has pioneered the Middle Corridor route with a pilot trip conducted by three semi-trucks traveling under the TIR system from China to Azerbaijan and Georgia. This was the inaugural TIR-compliant journey for Chinese trucking companies. The three industrial vehicles departed from Zhengzhou and Urumqi—two inland cities located in Henan province and the Xinjiang autonomous region, respectively—and exited China via the Khorgos-Nur Zholy border crossing with Kazakhstan.
The trucks reached the Caspian Sea coast, where they were loaded onto a ro-ro ship for Azerbaijan before proceeding to their final destinations. The total length of these journeys is approximately 6,600 kilometers, completed in two weeks. "The Middle Corridor, an emerging and key trade route connecting East and West, has seen a record growth in transit volumes in recent years," explains Tatiana Rey-Bellet, TIR and Transit Director at IRU.
One of the Chinese trucking companies involved in the initiative is Zhengzhou Hongyi Transportation (Zzhy), founded in 2014 in Zhengzhou. Today, it operates a fleet of 500 industrial vehicles and also provides maritime and air shipping services. It is also the first Chinese member of the IRU. In recent years, the company has opened several road routes between China and Central Asia.
