Operating a huge cargo lifter, Zhandos Nurmagambetov was stacking containers onto a train before it headed across the steppe of Kazakhstan on a new railway route vital for China-Europe trade.

Central Asia is in the midst of a logistics boom, as Beijing invests heavily in the New Silk Road -- a vast overland transport network linking China to Europe that can help bypass Russia and shorten freight routes.

On Kazakhstan's border with China, the once-sleepy small town of Dostyk, whose name translates as "friendship", has become a surprisingly vital hub in global trade.

"We receive and ship goods mainly from Europe, Asia and Russia," Nurmagambetov told AFP, as he moved 20-tonne containers using the industrial forklift.

"A 39-car train is about 900 metres (0.6 miles) long. We carry out this

See Full Page