China is considering investing $60bn to upgrade Turkey’s rail network, South China Morning Post reports.

Burak Dağlıoğlu, president of the Invest in Türkiye agency, said the work could include a high-speed line between Istanbul and Ankara and the electrification of existing track.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, Dağlıoğlu said Chinese companies were interested in bidding for projects, and that there was huge potential for investment.

Regardless of which companies carry out the work, China wants to make Turkey a link in the chain that connects it to Europe, and offers an alternative to the problematic northern route through Russia.

Freight trains can still pass through Russia, but logistics companies see the southern route through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as less risky.

The trans-Asian freight network has grown rapidly in importance in recent years, reaching 1.9 million containers in 2023.

China is taking a growing interest in the Turkish economy for its own sake.

Chinese equipment maker CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive has a factory in Turkey, and is about to bid to supply the Istanbul metro with Turkey’s fastest metro train in an open tender process due to begin soon.

Chinese investors had put some $6bn into 1,300 companies by mid-2024. In addition, about 300,000 Chinese tourists visited Turkey in 2024, up from 250,000 in 2023.