Officials and experts have hailed the close and effective trade cooperation between China and Central Asian countries as trade between the two sides reached a new milestone in 2025.
The value of trade between China and the five Central Asian countries reached 106.3 billion U.S. dollars last year, exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time, data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed.
With trade growing over the last five years, China became the largest trading partner for Central Asian countries for the first time last year.
Sun Weidong, secretary-general of the Secretariat of the China-Central Asia Mechanism, said that the China-Central Asia cooperation has demonstrated strong momentum amidst the current complex international situation.
"In 2021, trade between China and the five Central Asian countries was 49.56 billion U.S. dollars. In just four years, the volume of trade between the two sides has doubled, and its share in China's foreign trade has nearly doubled. Against the backdrop of escalating global geopolitical tensions and the severe impact of unilateralism and protectionism on the international economic and trade order, this achievement reflects the strong inherent driving force of trade cooperation between China and Central Asian countries," said Sun.
Sun believes that the continuous rise in trade between China and Central Asia is due to cooperation between the two sides being based on complementary advantages, a natural fit between their resource endowments and industries. Sun also credited the joint efforts of the governments, local governments, and businesses in the six countries.
"China's exports to Central Asian countries are mainly machinery and electronic products, while its imports from Central Asian countries are mainly energy, minerals, and other bulk commodities, with agricultural imports continuing to grow. The two sides have formed a close, mutually supportive, and mutually beneficial relationship in the industrial and supply chains. This has not only met their respective development needs but also injected strong momentum into regional economic growth," said Sun.
The surge in trade volume also demonstrated the vigorous development momentum of China-Central Asia cooperation and the leading role of China in this mechanism.
In June last year, during the second China-Central Asia Summit, the China-Central Asia Trade Facilitation Cooperation Platform was officially launched.
Located in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, the platform aims to promote efficient matching of market demands between China and Central Asian countries and establish a one-stop service system.
"Since its inception, the platform has attracted over 20 Central Asian organizations to join with China. For example, the QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development Joint-Stock Company collects sales needs from hundreds of Kazakh companies, and we help them make targeted connections. For online channels, we have created the Silk Road e-commerce platform for Central Asian countries, attracting over 500 domestic companies and connecting them with local Central Asian e-commerce platforms," said Wu Qiongyu, a working group member of the trade facilitation platform.
Central Asia is located at the crossroads of cultural exchange between East and West, and is an important transportation hub and energy supply corridor. Central Asian countries have also established the C5+1 mechanism with various parties such as China, the United States, Russia, Japan and the European Union.
"China and Central Asian countries share a border of over 3,000 kilometers. China and the five Central Asian countries have signed a treaty of permanent good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation, a pioneering initiative in China's neighborhood diplomacy. China has always firmly supported the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Central Asian countries, and has consistently supported their choice of their own development paths. This sets a model for how neighbors should handle relations, which are equality, mutual trust, mutual respect, solidarity, and mutual benefit, rather than using force to suppress the weak and doing things that benefit only oneself," said Ding Xiaoxing, Deputy Secretary-General of Academic Committee of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Officials, experts laud close, effective China-Central Asia trade cooperation
