08.08.2026 Trade & Markets #EAEU #Russia #China #Import #Export #Logistics

EAEU and China move to trial paperless rail freight

Heads of government of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) approved a report on the digitalization of rail freight at the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, on August 7, 2026, backing a shift with China toward trial shipments using electronic waybills without a paper original (EEC). According to the report, the share of rail shipments handled with electronic transport documents reached 94% between Russia and Belarus and 81% between Russia and Kazakhstan in 2025 (EEC; Alta).

Where paper has nearly disappeared

Within the union, the switch to electronic rail documentation is effectively complete: the share of shipments handled with electronic transport documents reached 94% between Russia and Belarus and 81% between Russia and Kazakhstan in 2025, meaning roughly a fifth of shipments on the Kazakhstan route still travel with a paper waybill. EEC Trade Minister Andrei Slepnev said the union's plan for switching to electronic transport documents on its internal circuit was implemented in 2025, and the results made it possible to extend the approach to the route with China (EEC; Alta).

What an electronic waybill changes on the ground

Dropping the paper original removes a bottleneck at rail-gauge transshipment points and at borders, where a physical document previously had to travel with the cargo. Industry coverage describes the expected effect as faster clearance, lower administrative costs for carriers, and fewer manual steps, including re-entering the same data into different systems. Importantly, an electronic waybill does not remove customs procedures: declaration, control and verification of information at the border remain unchanged (tks.ru).

What the pilot on the China route means

Following work carried out in 2025, the EAEU and China are moving in 2026 to trial freight shipments between Russia and China using an electronic waybill and paperless technology (EEC). The trial aims to test technical compatibility between the information systems of parties involved in the transport process and to resolve legal questions around mutual recognition of electronic documents between the two countries (tks.ru). The route carries significant volume: rail freight between Russia and China grew 6.3% in 2025, to 200 million tonnes — figures that Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui cited back in March 2026, when summarizing the previous year at the first Russian-Chinese logistics business forum in Moscow (RZD-Partner).

Who is affected, and what the pilot does not change yet

The news is most relevant to shippers and logistics operators on the Russia-Belarus, Russia-Kazakhstan and Russia-China corridors, where documentation flows are tied to the rail waybill. An important caveat: on the China route, this is explicitly a trial rather than a mandatory new regime — the EEC's language describes a "shift toward conducting" trial shipments, not their full-scale launch (EEC). Until the pilot concludes, the paper waybill remains a working fallback.

Who took part and what else was on the agenda

The Eurasian Intergovernmental Council met on August 6-7, 2026, in Cholpon-Ata, bringing together the heads of government of Armenia (Nikol Pashinyan), Belarus (Alexander Turchin), Kazakhstan (Olzhas Bektenov), Kyrgyzstan (Adylbek Kasymaliev) and Russia (Mikhail Mishustin), along with EEC Board Chairman Bakytzhan Sagintayev; observers included representatives of Uzbekistan, Iran and Cuba. Besides the rail digitalization report, the council addressed oil market monitoring, competition, carbon regulation and food security. The next meeting is scheduled for October 1-2, 2026, in Minsk (EEC).

Primary sources

This material is for information only and does not constitute legal advice or customs consulting. Verify changes against the primary sources before acting.