In 2025, China will achieve a historic leap in economic and trade cooperation with the five Central Asian countries. According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on the 18th, the bilateral trade volume of goods for the whole year reached 106.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 12%, breaking through the 100 billion US dollar mark for the first time. This is the fifth consecutive year that the trade volume between the two sides has maintained growth, and China has also become the largest trading partner of Central Asian countries for the first time.

Double upgrading of trade scale and structure

At the same time as reaching a new high in scale, the bilateral trade structure has also shown a trend towards novelty and optimization. By 2025, China's exports to Central Asia will reach 71.2 billion US dollars, with strong growth in electromechanical and high-tech products, particularly in the market share of electric manned vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells. Imports from Central Asia amounted to 35.1 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14%. The types of non resource products such as chemical products, steel, and agricultural products have become more diverse, demonstrating the achievements of industrial upgrading and economic diversification in Central Asia.

Silk Road e-commerce leads the development of new business models

Digital trade has become a new engine driving growth. In 2025, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports between China and Central Asia will maintain rapid growth. To support this trend, the construction of warehousing and logistics continues to advance, and cross-border payment cooperation is fully implemented. Especially with the rapid development of the "Silk Road E-commerce" cooperation mechanism, the number of partner countries has increased to 35, opening up new cooperation paths for China and Central Asian countries including Kazakhstan. The China Central Asia Trade Cooperation Platform, located in Nanjing, Jiangsu, was officially launched and put into operation last year, providing a more efficient bridge for trade exchanges.

Project investment and long-term planning

The integrated development effect of investment and trade is significant. Under the framework of high-quality joint construction of the the Belt and Road, a number of major projects in connectivity, equipment manufacturing, green minerals, modern agriculture and other fields are being accelerated. These projects not only effectively drive the export of Chinese related equipment and technology to Central Asia, but also provide impetus for local industrial upgrading and economic revitalization. Keywords: Engineering Strategy

The person in charge of the Eurasian Department of the Ministry of Commerce stated that the next step will be to fully implement the important achievements of the China Asia Summit and coordinate the promotion of improving the quality and efficiency of economic and trade cooperation. Specific directions include optimizing trade structure, cultivating new business models represented by cross-border e-commerce, promoting integrated development of trade and investment, and striving to establish higher-level institutional arrangements to continuously enrich the economic and trade connotation of the China Central Asia Community of Shared Future.Editor/Cheng Liting