Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to reaffirm Beijing’s commitment to Central Asian ties and higher quality development projects when he visits Kazakhstan for a summit next week.
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Xi will be in Astana from Monday to Wednesday for the China-Central Asia Summit, which is expected to focus on areas including transport, energy, security governance and the digital economy, according to analysts.
It follows the first such summit in the Chinese city of Xian in 2023, when Xi vowed to strengthen trade and investment ties. The resource-rich Central Asian region – where Beijing and Moscow are vying for influence – shares a long border with Xinjiang, in China’s far west.
Zhao Long, an expert on Russian and Central Asian affairs at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said the summit was likely to see a shift in emphasis from Beijing – from the quantity to quality of projects, and “particularly how to implement previously agreed projects and deliver tangible results”.
The gathering is being held against the backdrop of Washington’s global tariff war, which observers say could create an opportunity for Beijing and Central Asian nations to align their development needs.
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“In the face of shared external pressures, both sides are seeking stronger strategic coordination and complementarity of development to mitigate risks caused by US policy fluctuations,” Zhao said.