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South Asia · truck over the Karakoram

Rail and road freight from China to Pakistan

China to Pakistan

Kashgar · Tashkurgan · Khunjerab Pass · Sost · Gilgit · Islamabad

Corridor map: China to PakistanMap of land corridors between China and Pakistan, drawn on one real projection with places at their latitude and longitude: Kashgar · Tashkurgan · Khunjerab Pass · Sost · Gilgit · Islamabad. Pakistan is outlined and shaded. Lines join the listed places and are not surveyed tracks or schedules. PAKISTANCHINAAFGHANISTANINDIATAJIKISTAN 35°N40°N65°E70°E75°E80°E KashgarKhunjerab PassSostIslamabadTashkurganGilgit 200 km Lines join the listed places; they are not surveyed tracks. Border crossingOrigin / destination
Corridor map: China to PakistanMap of land corridors between China and Pakistan, drawn on one real projection with places at their latitude and longitude: Kashgar · Tashkurgan · Khunjerab Pass · Sost · Gilgit · Islamabad. Pakistan is outlined and shaded. Lines join the listed places and are not surveyed tracks or schedules. PAKISTANINDIATAJIKISTAN 34°N36°N38°N40°N72°E74°E76°E KashgarKhunjerab PassSostIslamabad 200 km
  1. Kashgar
  2. Tashkurgan
  3. Khunjerab PassBorder crossing
  4. SostBorder crossing
  5. Gilgit
  6. Islamabad

Pakistan is the only South Asian country with a road link to China that this section covers, and it crosses the highest paved border in the world. In 2025 the crossing was formally opened for winter; the same year, a protest and a flood disrupted it in summer.

Ask about Pakistan All rail & road corridors

At a glance

Pakistan: three facts that shape the lane

Pass

Open year-round since 2025

A 1985 agreement had limited the Khunjerab Pass to 1 April–30 November; Pakistan and China agreed in December 2024 to open it all year, with a ceremony in April 2025.1

Dry port

Sost was blocked for 68 days

A sit-in by Gilgit-Baltistan traders blocked the Sost dry port from July to late September 2025 and ended after an agreement with the federal government.2,3

Operators

Chinese or Pakistani trucks

NLC says it employs Chinese vehicles and drivers where Pakistani ones face operational limitations.4

The corridor

A single road with two kinds of risk

The Karakoram Highway carries the whole corridor. In August 2025 a glacial lake outburst flood swept part of it away at Gulmit in Hunza.5 The legal picture is simple: Pakistan is not an ADR contracting party,6 so the haulier's own acceptance of the UN number is the test.

Lithium batteries are screened case by case, subject to haulier and country acceptance. We do not state a transit time for this road; the pass, the dry port and the highway are all independent points of delay.

A worker holding a roll of stretch film beside a pallet of boxes

Places on this page's map

  • Kashgar. The Chinese city where trucks are prepared.
  • Tashkurgan. The last Chinese town before the pass.
  • Khunjerab Pass. The border at 15,500 feet.
  • Sost. The Pakistani dry port and customs point.
  • Gilgit and Islamabad. The road south through Gilgit-Baltistan to the capital.

Route pages

Lanes to Pakistan from inland Chinese cities

Truck route

Kashgar → Islamabad

Kashgar to Islamabad by truck over the Khunjerab Pass and Karakoram Highway: year-round opening since 2025, Sost dry port stoppages, floods and the lack of ADR in Pakistan.

Read the Kashgar to Islamabad route

Questions

Pakistan: questions we are asked

The two governments agreed to year-round opening;1 weather can still close the road.

No. Pakistan is not an ADR contracting party.6

By sea instead

Compare with sea freight from China

Choosing a mode

Each mode accepts lithium batteries on its own terms

Rail, road and sea operators apply different acceptance rules, and a shipment that is refused on one mode can sometimes be planned on another. We screen the cargo first and name the mode afterwards.

References

Where these points come from

  1. Khunjerab Pass opens for year-round trade and travel (Dawn, 23 April 2025)
  2. Khunjerab route shut due to Sost protests (Dawn, 29 July 2025)
  3. Trade, travel via Khunjerab Pass resume after over two months (Dawn, 29 September 2025)
  4. Bridging Nations, Driving Prosperity: NLC's role in promoting trade and connectivity between Pakistan and China (Pakistan Observer)
  5. Another flood severs Karakoram Highway; Sutlej banks being evacuated (Dawn, 14 August 2025)
  6. Status of ADR – United Nations Treaty Collection, chapter XI-B-14 (United Nations Treaty Collection)

Next step

Ask about China → Pakistan

Ask about China → Pakistan

Origin and destination are filled in; add the cargo facts you have.

Sending this form starts a review; it does not confirm carriage. Full enquiry form

After you send it

We check operator and country acceptance for China → Pakistan before any booking, and ask for missing battery documents first.

All rail & road corridors · Sea routes from China

Need China → Pakistan reviewed?

Share the cargo facts; we review the lane in writing.

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