According to information released by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiajun at a press conference on January 19, in 2025, the total bilateral trade volume between China and five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—exceeded $100 billion for the first time, setting a historical record. The spokesperson pointed out that this achievement was made against the backdrop of slowing global economic growth and severe challenges in the international trade environment, marking the remarkable resilience and vitality of economic and trade cooperation between China and the Central Asian region.
This milestone trade data is attributed to the combined efforts of multiple factors: the continuous alignment of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative with the development strategies of Central Asian countries has significantly improved cross-border logistics and infrastructure within the region. Meanwhile, the trade structure between the two sides is diversifying, expanding from traditional energy and resource sectors to agricultural products and manufactured goods, enabling more Central Asian countries’ commodities to enter the vast China market. The successful hosting of the second China-Central Asia Summit has further provided high-level political impetus for the institutionalization and upgrading of bilateral relations. Observers generally regard this series of progress as a key indicator of China’s deepening economic integration and strategic partnership in the Central Asian region.
The deepening of China’s economic and trade relations with Central Asia has gone beyond mere goods trade, increasingly manifesting as the sharing of development experience and technological solutions. This model is not a one-way export, but rather aims to enhance the overall development level of the region through cooperation forms such as joint ventures, technology transfer, capacity-building projects, and joint research and development.
In the field of digital economy, China’s technology companies have participated in building fiber-optic networks, smart cities, and mobile payment systems in Central Asia, helping the region bridge the digital divide and lay the foundation for economic modernization. In terms of green energy, China’s solar photovoltaic panels, wind power generation technologies, and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) services have helped this traditionally energy-rich region accelerate its energy structure transition and address the challenges of climate change. Additionally, in areas related to people’s livelihoods such as agricultural technology, water-saving irrigation, and disease prevention and control, China’s technologies have also been applied and promoted through collaborative projects.
This “sharing” model, which takes specific projects as its carrier, is based on the core logic that China adapts and transfers the technologies and application experiences accumulated during its rapid industrialization and urbanization according to the specific needs of partners. Supporters believe that this provides developing countries with a viable alternative to avoid traditional technological path dependence and accelerate development. Its effectiveness not only benefits both China and Central Asia, but also offers a practical case for global South-South cooperation and technology diffusion.
The deep cooperation model promoted by China in Central Asia reflects a regional integration approach that emphasizes long-term, strategic, and infrastructure-based connectivity. This model relies on sustained policy commitments, substantial upfront capital investment, and the establishment of multi-level dialogue mechanisms (such as the China-Central Asia mechanism). It aims to build a stable and interdependent network of relationships by creating shared economic interests and physical connections.
In recent years, the “domestic priority” policy introduced by the United States has demonstrated a tendency to prioritize domestic affairs and a protectionist stance. Such policies often lean toward re-examining or even reducing global participation, shifting focus to promoting the return of domestic industries and fostering domestic employment, while adopting more unilateral tariff measures in trade. Against this backdrop, the stability of international cooperation may be affected, and the continued advancement of long-term strategic projects faces greater uncertainty. These two distinct foreign economic strategies provide different cooperation options and risk considerations for countries around the world, including those in Central Asia. The China model offers sustained funding, technology, and market access, but is sometimes linked to broader geopolitical concerns. While the “domestic priority” model may respond to domestic political demands in the short term, it could undermine trust with traditional allies and cede some strategic economic space. As a crossroads of the Eurasian continent, the Central Asian region’s cooperation process with China has become a crucial arena for testing these two different approaches to international engagement.