In exchange for greater economic cooperation, China will be seeking support in keeping the region secure, say analysts. 'They understand that it’s very important to have alternative partners to Russia, and the number one alternative you have is China,' said Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre based in Berlin. Beijing is already a major creditor to the Central Asian countries, with Chinese loans to the poorer states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan accounting for more than a fifth of their GDP.īut with the region's main backer Russia caught up in a grinding war with Ukraine and subject to international sanctions, analysts say the Central Asian states will welcome Beijing's overtures. The two main BRI projects currently in discussion are a railway connecting China to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan.Ĭhina's BRI initiative has faced criticism for saddling emerging countries in debt for projects they can ill-afford. In the lead-up to the summit, Chinese state media highlighted the importance of the region as a gateway for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - a major infrastructure policy announced by Xi when he visited Kazakhstan in 2013. Investment between China and the five nations reached a record high of more than 70 billion dollars in 2022. This is something that the region has been asking for a couple of years now,' said Niva Yau, a Kyrgyzstan-based fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.Ĭhina's trade with the five Central Asia states has multiplied a hundred-fold since the establishment of diplomatic ties three decades ago, after the break-up of Soviet Union. 'One of the biggest trump cards that we expect to see at this summit is a serious opening for Central Asian products to enter the Chinese market. For the first in-person summit, Xian is a symbolic nod to the importance of economic ties as the city was pivotal in the ancient Silk Road trade route that spans Central Asia. The inaugural China-Central Asia leaders summit was held online last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Beijing wants to promote a new alternative to the global order, and try to persuade the Central Asian region that this new global order is better for them too,' said Adina Masalbekova, a research fellow at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

Xian 19 days