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President Xi Jinping chairs the first China-Central Asia summit. Photo: Xinhua

Economy Global Economy

Global Impact: Xi Jinping rolls out the red carpet for Central Asian leaders as G7 vows to address China challenge

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world
In this edition, we look back at what was achieved during the China-Central Asia Summit

Central Asia

Zhuang Pinghuiin Beijing

Published: 2:00pm, 29 May 2023

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While state leaders of the wealthy Group of Seven (G7) and their counterparts from guest nations gathered in Hiroshima last week to announce their plans to counter China’s “malign” practices and tackle economic coercion, President Xi Jinping was courting five Central Asian nations with promises of deals, boosting law enforcement, security and defence capability construction.

By the time Xi had wrapped up chairing of the inaugural China-Central Asia Summit, which took place in the symbolic city of Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, a grand plan that involved a total of 26 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) of financial support and grants had been announced.

Xi also called for the expansion of economic and trade ties and energy cooperation, including speeding up the construction of line D of the China-Central Asia gas pipeline.

02:58

China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia

He also proposed establishing a China-Central Asia energy development partnership, expanding trade in oil and gas, pursuing cooperation throughout the energy industrial chains and strengthening cooperation on new energy and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, who were holding their first-ever in person meetings under the new mechanism since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992, also pledged mutual support for each other’s core interests and approach to development.

Together, leaders of the six countries also stressed the importance of improving connectivity in the region, including better transport links between Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the rest of the continent.

The summit came at a time when China is seeking to break US-led “containment, encirclement and suppression”, a term raised by Xi during his discussion with delegates of China’s top legislature in March.

Having been dissatisfied with perceived Western dominance, China has been increasingly vocal about establishing a Chinese-led global order via its Belt and Road Initiative - a major infrastructure policy announced by Xi when he visited Kazakhstan in 2013 - and the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, which were proposed by China in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

As part of the summit, Xi held a series of one-on-one meetings with the five leaders, who all expressed support for greater Chinese engagement in the region, including under the flagship Belt and Road Initiative.

The two main Belt and Road Initiative projects currently under discussion are a railway connecting China to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan.

Beijing is also hoping to bolster its relations with the region given its strategic significance to the Belt and Road Initiative, with Russia’s engagement in its prolonged war with Ukraine creating a vacuum for China to expand its influence.

Multimedia: The Central Asian gas pipeline

In September, Xi chose Central Asia for his first trip abroad in more than two years after China had isolated itself as part of its zero-Covid policy.

Xi spent three days in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a China-led security and economic collective.

Beijing views Central Asia as a critical frontier for expanding commerce and energy security, with trade between China and the five Central Asian countries reaching US$70.2 billion last year, up by 40 per cent year on year. The region also guarantees at least 15 per cent of China’s natural gas supply.

Energy ties between China and Central Asia were not affected by the Ukraine war, with Central Asia supplying more than two-thirds of China’s pipeline gas imports and China importing much more natural gas from Central Asia than from Russia.

China reaches out to Central Asia in push to end Ukraine war

The region is also regarded as crucial to maintaining stability in Xinjiang and for it to be free of terrorism influence.

The summit showcased how the five Central Asian countries, traditionally under the influence of Russia as former Soviet states, are pivoting to align more with China as a source of security and investment.

They have not criticised the war in Ukraine and abstained from a vote condemning Russia at the United Nations General Assembly in February, yet Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, also a former Soviet state, did rattle the nerves of the Central Asian countries.

Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said China, which shares a similar view and stance on the crisis in Ukraine, was willing to work with the Central Asian countries to push for a solution.

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China sought to forge closer economic and security ties with its Central Asian neighbours on Friday as the US and its allies met next door to build a common strategy to curb Beijing’s challenge to the Washington-led world order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the northwestern city of Xian.

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Presence of ethnic Russians in the five countries has triggered fears Moscow could target their territory next, analyst says

China is expected to further boost ties with Central Asia when President Xi Jinping hosts his counterparts from the region amid uncertainties stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine and increasing hostility from the West.

Beijing has hailed the two-day summit of nations in the vast and geo-strategically important neighbouring region on Thursday and Friday as the “first major diplomatic event that China hosts this year”.

China pulls on Tang dynasty Silk Road ties to help secure central Asian future

Five regional leaders were greeted with dancers and a banquet harking back to Xian’s imperial past as a centre of trade and culture
Beijing is trying to position itself as an alternative partner to Russia

It was a step back in time in Xian on Thursday night as Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, welcomed five central Asian leaders for a summit.

The gathering in the northwestern Chinese city – home to the terracotta warriors and the start of the Silk Road – got under way performances and a banquet inspired by the Tang dynasty (618-907).

How energy is powering China’s relationships with Central Asia

Beijing is seen in the region as a reliable partner compared with the US and Russia, analyst says
Two-thirds of China’s gas pipeline imports came from Central Asia last year

China is increasingly looking to Central Asia as a major energy partner, with joint projects expected to be on the agenda at a regional summit from Thursday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian for a two-day China-Central Asia summit, an event that comes as China faces growing decoupling pressure from the US-led West.

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Uzbekistan’s former foreign minister opens up with the Post about the need for green financing projects and why China is a ‘comprehensive strategic partner’
China will host a summit next month with Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s attempts to embrace a China-like economic growth model are paving the way for Beijing to build a stronghold in Central Asia and to fill a vacuum left by Russia after Western sanctions.

In a widely anticipated referendum on constitutional reform, to be held on April 30, the most populous Central Asia country will decide whether to extend presidential terms from five to seven years, and whether to provide more protection for investors – including Chinese state-owned firms and private entrepreneurs.

Global Impact is a fortnightly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world.