In 2025, the total import and export value of China-Central Asia trade in goods reached a new historical high, surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time and reaching $106.3 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 12%, marking a growth rate 6 percentage points higher than the previous year. As friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, China and Central Asian countries have always adhered to the principles of mutual respect, good-neighborliness, solidarity, and mutual benefit in recent years, continuously deepening pragmatic cooperation in the economic and trade fields. This historic breakthrough is a vivid footnote to the effectiveness of their cooperation.

The trade volume between China and Central Asia has surpassed 100 billion US dollars for the first time, highlighting the tremendous achievements in economic and trade cooperation between China and Central Asia. This marks a new milestone in the history of cooperation between China and Central Asia, indicating that the economic and trade cooperation between China and Central Asia has entered a new stage of high-quality development, and further consolidating the economic foundation of the China-Central Asia community of shared destiny. Liu Huaqin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, clearly interpreted the landmark significance of this breakthrough when interviewed by the International Business Daily.

According to China Customs statistics, in 2025, China exported $71.2 billion to Central Asian countries, marking an 11% year-on-year increase; and imported $35.1 billion from Central Asian countries, representing a 14% year-on-year growth. The steady increase in both imports and exports fully demonstrates the strong resilience and tremendous growth potential of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides.

The product mix is evolving towards new and better options

In addition to the steady expansion of trade scale, the optimization and upgrading of trade structure have also become prominent highlights of China-Central Asia economic and trade cooperation. Liu Huaqin stated that for a considerable period, China's imports from Central Asian countries were mainly energy and mineral products, while its exports were mainly textile and apparel goods and electromechanical products. In recent years, the structure of trade commodities has been continuously optimized, and the types of commodities have become increasingly diverse.

Specifically, in terms of China's exports to Central Asia, electromechanical products, high-tech products, and "new three categories" products have shown impressive performance, reaching US$41 billion, US$5.5 billion, and US$4.3 billion respectively, with year-on-year increases of 22%, 5%, and 17%. Among them, electromechanical products account for more than 55% of exports. In terms of China's imports from Central Asia, the types of non-resource products such as chemicals, steel, and agricultural products continue to be enriched. More and more high-quality specialty products from Central Asia, such as camel milk, natural honey, and fresh fruits, have entered thousands of households in China. According to Liu Huaqin, currently, over 100 types of agricultural and food products from Central Asian countries can be exported to China, with more than 4,000 enterprises approved and registered. China has opened eight "green channels" for the rapid customs clearance of agricultural and sideline products to Central Asian countries, providing convenient conditions for expanding imports from Central Asian countries. Among them, Uzbekistan accounts for "half of the market" in China's raisin imports, and China has become an important destination for agricultural product exports from Central Asian countries.

The strong economic complementarity between China and Central Asian countries provides robust support for the establishment of a close supply chain and industrial chain between the two parties. This complementarity is particularly evident in the energy sector: Central Asia is rich in fossil fuels, and the established China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline and China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline have become important land routes for China's energy imports. At the same time, China's advantages in the clean energy sector have helped Central Asian countries accelerate their energy transition and promote sustainable economic development. Currently, photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy have become new highlights of cooperation between the two parties. The first "PV + energy storage" integrated project built by Chinese enterprises in Kazakhstan and the largest PV power generation project in Uzbekistan have both become landmark achievements in green cooperation between the two parties.

The automotive production sector has established a model for cross-border industrial chains in manufacturing. Chinese companies such as BYD, JAC, Yutong, Great Wall, and Chery have successively set up operations in Central Asian countries, relying on Chinese automotive components for local assembly, sales, and after-sales services. This not only fills the gap in the new energy vehicle industry in Central Asian countries but also drives local industrial upgrading and creates a large number of jobs. The assembly plant of Yutong in Kazakhstan alone provides travel services to over 2 million people in Kazakhstan each year, equivalent to 1/10 of the country's total population, indirectly creating over 5,000 jobs.

Cross-border cooperation in the agricultural sector has also yielded fruitful results. Shaanxi Aiju Group has established a three-in-one cross-border industrial chain, encompassing "North Kazakhstan, Alataw Pass, and Xi'an". It has set up a grain and oil production base in Kazakhstan, established a warehousing and processing center in the Alataw Pass Comprehensive Bonded Zone, and created a sales and distribution center at Xi'an Chanba International Port. This not only provides over 1,000 job opportunities for Kazakhstan but also offers a stable sales market for local agricultural products. Currently, China and Central Asian countries are expanding cooperation in industrial and supply chains in more areas, aiming to achieve mutual benefit, win-win results, and coordinated development.

New fields activate new driving forces

The popularity of new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce has become a new engine for trade growth. In 2025, the trade volume of China-Central Asia cross-border e-commerce reached 800 million US dollars, with a growth rate of over 20%. Liu Huaqin believes that "cross-border e-commerce has lowered the threshold of trade. A large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Central Asian countries use cross-border e-commerce platforms to make transactions without leaving home, achieving the goal of buying from and selling to the whole world. Cross-border e-commerce has expanded the scope of traders, increased the types of traded goods, improved circulation efficiency, and provided new opportunities for expanding trade between China and Central Asia."

According to Liu Huaqin, Alibaba has established Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan national pavilions on its platform, and the Silk Road E-commerce Cooperation Pilot Zone in Shanghai Waigaoqiao has also added an Uzbekistan national pavilion. The China-Central Asia Trade Connectivity Cooperation Platform in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, has linked up with domestic provinces and cities to jointly explore the Central Asian market. It has continuously enriched new business models such as live streaming e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce + China-Europe freight trains, cross-border e-commerce + industrial belts, and cross-border e-commerce + overseas warehouses, significantly improving the efficiency of cross-border e-commerce transactions. This has built a new platform for inland provinces and regions to expand their openness. Nowadays, the fast and convenient transaction methods of cross-border e-commerce have been widely applied in Central Asian countries. Food products such as flour from Kazakhstan, honey from Kyrgyzstan, and cherries from Uzbekistan have been served on the dining tables of Chinese people. Meanwhile, Chinese small household appliances, air purifiers, smartphones, and other goods have entered the Central Asian market. This has not only enriched the market supply for both sides but also allowed the achievements of China-Central Asia trade to benefit the people of both countries more, enhancing their sense of gain.

It is noteworthy that the trade linkage in fields such as green energy and green minerals is gradually heating up. Liu Huaqin believes that this will become an important direction for enhancing the quality and efficiency of bilateral trade. Liu Huaqin pointed out that the Astana Declaration of the Second China-Central Asia Summit in June 2025 has included such contents as "all parties are willing to deepen investment and industrial cooperation in fields such as green minerals, new energy, and new infrastructure to ensure the stability and smoothness of the regional industrial chain" and "all relevant parties support further strengthening the cooperation in the entire industrial chain of mineral resources development and utilization between China and Central Asian countries". At the same time, the six countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Investment Cooperation in the Field of Green Minerals, and the linkage in fields such as green energy and green minerals will provide new momentum for expanding trade.

From the historic breakthrough in trade scale, to the continuous optimization of trade structure, and to the expanding areas of cooperation, China-Central Asia economic and trade cooperation is steadily reaching new heights. Under the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy, China and Central Asian countries will surely continue to deepen pragmatic cooperation, tap into cooperation potential, promote higher-quality development of economic and trade cooperation, and constantly enrich the economic and trade connotation of the China-Central Asia community of shared destiny.