Kazakhstan Railways is bolstering its presence in both China and Russia to cement the Central Asian state’s role as a hub for both Europe- and Russia-bound freight rail traffic originating in East Asia. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaking via video link, inaugurated a Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) logistics and innovation center in the central Chinese city of Xian in late February. The facility has the capacity to handle roughly 66,000 standard intermodal containers, as measured in 20-foot equivalent units (TEU), per year. A KTZ statement noted that roughly 40 percent of all Europe-bo…