This weekly section provides an overview of key political, economic, and social developments across the five Central Asian states. It highlights the region’s most relevant policy trends, international engagements, and sectoral updates in areas such as energy, digital development, environment, and finance. The section is compiled and edited by Maryam Agharabi, Coordinator of the China & Central Asia Studies Center. For enquiries, you may contact maryam.agharabi[a]kimep.kz.
Disclaimer: All media digests are compiled strictly for academic and research purposes by the China & Central Asia Studies Center at KIMEP University. The views, facts, and opinions expressed in these summaries belong entirely to the original credited media outlets and do not reflect the official stance of the university or its researchers.
This past week, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan got together to work on opening a new trade route to Europe, a rally condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and Russia’s Sberbank started to try and fill the gap left by the departure of Visa and MasterCard with the Chinese Union Pay.
This week, China and Pakistan demonstrated devotion to the CPEC initiative after a string of rebel strikes in Baluchistan province, where Chinese investment has sparked resentment, President Xi’s face-to-face diplomacy and visits of the worldwide leaders were said to be contributing to strengthening ties between China and other states, and in western Kazakhstan, protesters started to demonstrate again, only a month after mass protests that had begun in the same region rapidly extended throughout the nation. Meanwhile, Baku’s Port in Azerbaijan, which is one of the key BRI junctions, was reported to be handling growing loads of shipments during this year.
This week, sanctions against Russia, including its removal from SWIFT, continued to hit Central Asian economies that are deeply linked to Russia's economy, Kazakhstan’s ruling party got renamed “Amanat” from “Nur-Otan”, and the Chinese exports were reported to be suffering because of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia.
This past week, Kazakh President Kassym Jomart Tokayev pointed to a $5.7 billion disparity in Kazakh and Chinese trade statistics due to “smuggling rings on the Kazakh-Chinese border” and promised to dismantle them. Kazakh Ambassador to China Gabit Koishibayev tried to calm Chinese worries that the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) could lead to the revival of Pan-Turkism and assured China that Kazakhstan-China relations remain a top priority for his government. A report by the Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) of China was published about the decline of media freedom in China. Despite the boycott by the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, the Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony kick-started in Beijing with a number of world leaders present. Elsewhere, Pakistan has reportedly secured $5 billion in loans from Russia, China and Kazakhstan, and India and the 5 Central Asian states have agreed to form a joint working group on Chabahar Port of Iran.
This past week, Russia invaded Ukraine and almost immediately got slapped with sanctions, which had a domino effect on the Central Asian economies, Two more Kazakh ex-officials with ties to the former President Nursultan Nazarbayev were arrested and are awaiting trial, Uzbek trade was reported to be growing as the country considers production partnership with China, and Iran was said to be seeking the extension of the Iran-Afghanistan Railway into China.
Power blackouts were reported in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. The cause of the blackouts was narrowed down to the disconnection of the southern grid from the power plants in northern Kazakhstan and Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $500 million in aid to Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan) during a virtual meeting with the representatives of the five states, and in a similar meeting hosted by India, the same five Central Asian countries and India pledged to create a joint task-group to deliver aid to Afghanistan.
This week, the Taliban have reportedly created new battalions in Northern Afghanistan, worrying neighboring countries, especially Tajikistan, the data uncovered by local journalists points to up to $60 billions’ worth of goods smuggled through the Sino-Kyrgyz border in the past 20 years, Turkmenistan, encouraged by Kazakhstan, has been contemplating building a new industrial processing facility near the Afghan border, and Kazakhstan has reportedly continued its war against smuggling with 8 criminal and 24 administrative cases launched.
Kazakh ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev addressed the nation as rumors about his well-being circulated, denying any feud with President Tokayev even as the former’s children are axed from government positions, the UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres called for aid for Afghanistan amid the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country, suggesting unfreezing foreign assets as an emergency relief measure, and a freight train loaded with corn arrived in China from Kazakhstan.