“Summit in Central Asia Focuses on Trade and Cargo Transportation”
China is set to use the upcoming China-Central Asia summit to strengthen trade and economic ties with the region’s countries. The event will take place in Xi’an, Shaanxi province on May 18 and 19. At present, there is no specific agenda for the summit, but it is expected that discussions will revolve around the development of the Silk Road, particularly the Middle Corridor, and rail transportation linking these nations. Among these transportation channels are intermodal transportations that include the Caspian Sea via the ports of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Since diplomatic relations were established over 30 years ago, economic and trade cooperation between China and the five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – has achieved significant results. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce reports that trade turnover with these countries increased to 70 billion US dollars in 2022, while China’s imports of agricultural, energy, and mineral products from Central Asia rose by over 50% compared to last year. Meanwhile, exports of engineering and electronic products to Central Asia increased by 42%.
Chinese direct investment in the five countries exceeded $15 billion as of the end of March. With analysts noting that the world has overlooked the Central Asian market for a long time, the region is now set to play an increasingly important role in international supply chains following the post-pandemic changes.
