China-Kazakhstan partnership unlocks regional opportunities

The further deepening of Kazakhstan-China cooperation serves the interests not only of the two countries but also of the whole of Central Asia, said Shakhrat Nuryshev, Kazakh ambassador to China, while expressing hope that the two countries can make a joint contribution to strengthening Eurasian connectivity, enhancing regional stability and promoting sustainable development.

"China is not only our largest neighbor but also one of the world's leading centers of economic growth. It is also Kazakhstan's reliable strategic partner," Nuryshev said in a recent interview ahead of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to China to attend the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance. "In recent years, Kazakhstan-China relations have reached an unprecedented level of dynamism."

In 2025, trade between China and Kazakhstan reached $48.7 billion, setting a record high, and at the same time, Kazakhstan's exports to China reached $19 billion, up more than 19 percent year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data.

He stressed that for Kazakhstan, it is important not only to increase trade volumes with China, but also to improve the quality of trade, with the aim of building a more balanced, mutually beneficial and long-term partnership.

"Today, the focus is no longer simply on increasing trade turnover, but on building a modern, technologically advanced, and sustainable model of partnership that serves the interests of businesses, regions, and the peoples of both countries," he said.

The ambassador said that for Kazakhstan, the practical alignment of the priorities in China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) with Kazakhstan's National Development Plan through 2029 is of particular interest.

With shared focuses on high-quality economic growth, industrial modernization, digital transformation, innovation-driven development, enhanced transport connectivity, and improved national competitiveness, such alignment will give new impetus to bilateral cooperation across trade, investment, industry, transport, logistics and innovation, while further strengthening the eternal comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.

Kazakhstan's long-term strategic partnership with China is "based not on short-term political considerations, but on the convergence of our long-term development priorities, mutual trust and our shared responsibility for ensuring stability and prosperity in our region", Nuryshev said.

Huge potential

The top envoy said he looks forward to the next China-Central Asia Summit, scheduled to be held in China in 2027, and expressed belief that there remains huge potential for cooperation between China and the Central Asian countries.

According to the General Administration of Customs, China's trade volume with the five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — exceeded the $100 billion mark for the first time in history in 2025, reaching $106.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12 percent.

It was also in 2025 that China became the largest trading partner of all Central Asian countries for the first time.

"China possesses a strong industrial, technological, and investment base, as well as the world's largest consumer market. The countries of Central Asia, in turn, are endowed with significant natural resources, a strategic geographical location, dynamically developing economies, and considerable transit and logistics potential," he said.

He stressed that particular importance is attached to aligning Kazakhstan's transit and logistics potential with the growing needs of the Chinese and regional markets, as "the development of international transport corridors, border infrastructure, multimodal routes and digital trade instruments creates new opportunities not only for our two countries but for the whole of Eurasia".

Future efforts, he noted, should focus on deepening industrial cooperation, expanding investment cooperation, advancing the digital economy and artificial intelligence, strengthening transport and logistics chains, implementing joint projects in green development and innovation, and training a new generation of skilled professionals.

"I firmly believe that this pragmatic, mutually beneficial, and future-oriented approach will serve as the foundation for the continued prosperity of both Central Asia and China," he said.