From May 18 to 19, 2023, the China-Central Asia Summit was held in Xi'an, setting a new milestone in the history of China-Central Asia relations, and China's relations with Central Asian countries entered a new era. Over the past year, driven by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and the China-Central Asia Summit mechanism, China's economic and trade cooperation with Central Asia has continued to deepen and become more practical, while promoting a closer China-Central Asia community of shared future, and also bringing more benefits to the people on the new Silk Road.

Collaboration surges with many highlights

Data shows that in 2023, the trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries reached 89.4 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 27%. Among them, the trade volume with Kazakhstan reached 31.5 billion US dollars, setting a record high. China has become Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. As a major agricultural country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan's rich and high-quality agricultural products have become an important part of China-Kazakhstan economic and trade cooperation.

"Since the beginning of this year, we have imported 10,000 tons of barley from Kazakhstan in six special trains, with a value of 24 million yuan," said Bai Donglin, manager of Shaanxi Coal and Chemical International Trade Co., Ltd., excitedly telling the International Business Daily reporter, "We expect to import 70 special trains of barley from Kazakhstan throughout the year, with sales revenue of 280 million yuan."

According to Kazakhstan News Agency, China has become the largest importer of barley from Kazakhstan. Compared with the same period in 2023, China's barley imports from Kazakhstan have increased nearly fourfold. In addition to the high demand for animal feed in the Chinese market, the price advantage of Kazakhstan's barley is also the main reason for the sharp increase in its imports.

"At the same time, we also export fertilizer products to the Central Asian market. Many Central Asian customers have a great demand for our fertilizer products, especially those who export barley to us," Bai Donglin further stated.

Nowadays, many agricultural production materials and tools from China have opened up a vast market in Central Asia, providing new options for Chinese companies to "go global". Guo Ling, chairman of Xinjiang Saiyide Import and Export Trading Co., Ltd., is deeply touched by this.

As a small and micro enterprise specializing in agricultural production materials such as plastic film and drip irrigation tape, Saiyide has recently attracted many Central Asian customers to come to the company for field visits. "In the future, we will set up an office and overseas warehouse in Kazakhstan, and consider building a factory later," Guo Ling told the International Business Daily reporter.

While deepening cooperation in the agricultural field, new energy vehicles have also become a highlight of economic and trade cooperation between China and Central Asian countries: from January to March this year, the Horgos Port adjacent to Kazakhstan exported 22,000 new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of more than 3 times; in April, Kyrgyzstan imported 11,345 new energy vehicles from China, ranking among the top five countries in terms of total new energy vehicle exports from China that month; as of now, Xi'an International Port can send 5 to 8 new energy vehicle special trains to Central Asia every month...

Recently, GAC International officially delivered 1,000 AION Y new energy vehicles to ECO Taxi, the fourth largest taxi company in Tajikistan. It is reported that this cooperation is the first time that GAC International has exported new energy vehicle products to Tajikistan, which marks that the cooperation between the two parties has achieved phased results and will create about 120 million yuan in commodity sales and export value.

Organize a group to go abroad and discuss cooperation

Over the past year, in response to the surging business opportunities emerging in the Central Asian market, governments in many places have actively organized economic and trade delegations to visit Central Asian countries, and have helped companies expand into the Central Asian market by holding promotion meetings and participating in local exhibitions, achieving remarkable results.

From March 25 to April 3, the Xinjiang government delegation visited Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. During the 2024 (13th) Uzbekistan-China Xinjiang Commodity Exhibition, Chinese enterprises and delegations signed 51 intention contracts with the Uzbek side, with a total contract value of 1.394 billion yuan, involving new energy, medical care, automobiles, agricultural product production and processing, electronic products and other characteristic and advantageous fields.

Regarding this trip to Central Asia, Li Wenbin, chairman of Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Natural Gas Co., Ltd., said that the contacts, negotiations and field visits allowed the company to have a deeper understanding of the needs and trends of the Central Asian market, laying a good foundation for the company to expand its market share, increase market share, broaden its visibility and establish a new image.

From May 24 to June 2, the Guizhou Provincial Department of Commerce organized a trade delegation of 15 Guizhou enterprises to visit Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries. During this period, the Guizhou trade delegation will participate in the 24th Kazakhstan International Food Exhibition, and take the exhibition as an opportunity to hold the Guizhou-Astana Investment and Trade Exchange Conference, focusing on product display and promotion, brand publicity, and corporate releases, further expanding Guizhou's reputation, helping enterprises expand their social circles, and broadening the communication channels in the Central Asian market.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Commerce, this event is a specific measure to seize the opportunities of the new round of opening up and development, drive and serve Guizhou enterprises to "go global", and foreign high-quality enterprises to "come in", and promote Guizhou's high-level opening up. "I believe that this visit will achieve more cooperation and strive to achieve greater results, so that more Guizhou's 'high-quality products' can successfully go to Central Asia and the world."