In March 2026, a constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan shook the business community in Central Asia. The national treatment for foreign investment has been written into the constitution for the first time, and except for four fields such as national defense and nuclear energy, all other industries are fully open to foreign investment with 100% equity. As the gate opens, Kyrgyzstan's first large-scale photovoltaic power station is synchronously put into operation, and China CRRC's orders continue to rise - the interweaving of three forces is opening up an unprecedented overseas channel for the Central Asian market.

The Constitution guarantees national treatment for foreign investment

In March 2026, Kazakhstan passed a constitutional referendum, which for the first time explicitly stated that foreign investors enjoy national treatment at the constitutional level.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan confirmed that, except for four negative list areas such as national defense and nuclear energy, all other industries are open to foreign investment with 100% equity, and the company's establishment period is compressed to within 10 working days. Chinese enterprises are no longer required to have local partners and there is no minimum paid in capital threshold. Ha Fang also plans to launch a golden visa system to provide long-term residency convenience for foreign investors and high skilled talents.

Rapid expansion of new energy corridors

The 100 MW photovoltaic power station in Chuhe Oblast, Kyrgyzstan has successfully completed grid connected power generation, making it the first large-scale new energy project in the country's history.

The project has installed over 200000 high-efficiency photovoltaic modules, which can provide approximately 210 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity annually after operation, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 120000 tons. The President of Kyrgyzstan personally attended the grid connection ceremony. In September 2025, China and Kyrgyzstan signed a new energy cooperation agreement, planning to promote 1300 MW solar and 300 MW wind power projects.

Deep binding of rail transit

CRRC Ziyang Company has been deeply involved in the Kazakhstan market since 2005, providing a total of 191 diesel locomotives.

During the the Belt and Road Summit Forum in 2023, CRRC and Kazakhstan National Railway signed an agreement to deliver 100 locomotives, which is the largest locomotive export order of Chinese enterprises in Central Asia. CRRC's two subsidiaries have reached an agreement with Harbin Railway to establish an integrated center for locomotive production and major repairs in Harbin, achieving a strategic leap from selling products to building systems.Editor/Gao Xue