Trade with Central Asia expected to expand: Chinese commerce ministry

The country’s commerce ministry is willing to join hands with economic and trade counterparts in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to propel economic and trade cooperation, said commerce minister Wang Wentao.

Wang made the remarks at the China-Central Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum held virtually recently to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and the five Central Asian countries, according to official Chinese media reports.

"In the past three decades, China and the five Central Asian countries have been deepening pragmatic cooperation in economics and trade. We have established comprehensive, energetic and mutually beneficial economic and trade ties," Wang said.

During the forum, an initiative on high-quality sustainable development of China-Central Asia economic and trade cooperation was released. It reached broad consensus on jointly expanding cooperation in areas such as trade, investment and green development.

Zhou suggested China and those countries enhance cooperation on digital economy and energy, such as oil and gas trade, petrochemical processing and carbon emissions controls.

"Such efforts are not only key for them to further tap industrial potential, but also for China to strengthen related development momentum of the economy," he added.

Wang said China's trade value with the five Central Asian countries has surged by more than a hundred-fold in the past three decades.

Outbound direct investment from China to the five countries exceeded $14 billion and many major projects have been implemented to help with industrial upgrades, interconnection construction and improving livelihoods, Wang said.

Data from the MOC showed the combined trade between China and the five countries surged by 25 per cent year on year to $44.6 billion during the first 11 months of 2021.

The value between China and Kyrgyzstan grew the fastest at 131 per cent, to $6.3 billion. For Kazakhstan—the largest trading partner for China among the five countries—the figure rose by 15 per cent to $23 billion.

The ministry has also launched a livestreaming e-commerce campaign to help SCO member states export specialties to China. The event is part of an almost month-long national online shopping gala lasting till February 7 for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)