New Asia-Europe corridor to boost regional growth

China, Russia and Kazakhstan are counting on a new ground transportation corridor stretching from eastern China's Jiangsu province to St. Petersburg in Russia to help stimulate regional trade and better connect their economies, according to industry experts.

After nine years of negotiations, the trio recently reached an agreement on a construction plan for the Asia-Europe road. The length of the new corridor will be 8,445 kilometers - 2,233 km of it will be in Russia, 2,787 km in Kazakhstan and 3,425 km in China. The corridor is expected to be completed by 2017, according to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Under the current global economic setting, enhancing regional connectivity will be in the interests of all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at this year's meeting in Tashkent, especially for these three nations," said Luo Renjian, a researcher at the Institute of Transportation Research under the National Development and Reform Commission in Beijing.