China leads Central Asia in building a community with a shared future Astana Summit opens a new era of regional cooperation

The second China-Central Asia Summit was grandly opened in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on June 17. Chinese state leaders gathered with the heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to discuss regional development plans. Against the backdrop of rising unilateralism and pressure on the global supply chain, this summit marks that China and Central Asian countries, with a community with a shared future as an anchor, will work together to explore an independent development path and inject stability into the turbulent world.

Heads of state diplomacy draws a new blueprint for cooperation

The summit continues the China-Central Asia mechanism with the strategic leadership of heads of state as the core. Since the establishment of the heads of state meeting mechanism at the first Xi’an Summit in 2023, the six countries have achieved full coverage of comprehensive strategic partnership, full coverage of cooperation documents on the joint construction of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and full coverage of bilateral community of shared future practices. This summit further strengthened the “four pillars and eight columns” of the mechanism, promoted the full operation of the China-Central Asia Secretariat, and covered more than 30 ministerial-level cooperation areas such as diplomacy, economy and trade, energy, and poverty reduction.

On issues of core interests, the six countries firmly support each other. China has made a clear statement to safeguard the sovereignty and security of Central Asian countries, and Central Asian countries have also strongly supported China on issues such as Taiwan and Xinjiang, highlighting the political mutual trust of “being in the same boat in the changing situation”.

Three-dimensional connectivity activates regional economic pulse

China, as the first place to initiate the Belt and Road Initiative, unlocks development bottlenecks for Central Asia

Infrastructure breaks through landlocked dilemma: construction of key tunnels of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway starts, making the 532-kilometer new trunk line a trade artery connecting South Asia and the Middle East; the 100,000th standard container of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor arrives at Aktau Port, and the container hub jointly built by China and Kazakhstan will be put into operation at the end of the year, and the logistics costs of Asia and Europe will drop by 30%.

Trade and investment hit a record high: China-Central Asia trade volume reached US$94.8 billion in 2024, and China’s cumulative investment in Central Asia exceeded US$30 billion. Kazakhstan wheat and Uzbek cherries are directly supplied to Chinese tables, and Chinese new energy vehicles and photovoltaic equipment are pouring into the Central Asian market.

Green energy transformation accelerates: Uzbekistan’s 1 GW photovoltaic project undertaken by Chinese companies is connected to the grid for power generation, and the digital transformation of the Amu Darya gas field in Turkmenistan reduces front-line manpower by 50%, and clean energy has changed from a “luxury” to a “daily necessity.”

Technology sharing fosters independent development capabilities

China promotes the modernization process in Central Asia with the “teaching people how to fish” model

Talent cultivation: Kyrgyzstan’s Luban Workshop is equipped with 15 digital training rooms, compiles hundreds of thousands of words of localized textbooks, and trains more than 2,000 water conservancy and electrical professionals each year; the poverty reduction training class teaches Uzbek officials about China’s experience in targeted poverty alleviation.

Technology empowerment: The China-Tajikistan Traditional Chinese Medicine Center promotes the construction of a joint laboratory between the two countries, and acupuncture and herbal therapy benefit Tajik patients; Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek accesses the Central Asian government system with “hundreds of times cost-effectiveness advantages” to promote digital governance.

Ecological collaboration: Chinese technology helps Uzbekistan plant 215,000 hectares of sand-fixing vegetation in the Aral Sea Basin to fulfill its commitment to emission reduction in the Paris Agreement.

Common position under the banner of multilateralism

Facing the countercurrent of protectionism, China and Central Asia have issued a strong voice to maintain the international order

Countering unilateral bullying: Foreign Minister Wang Yi said before the meeting that China’s countermeasures against tariffs imposed on certain countries “are to defend international fairness and justice”. Central Asian countries unanimously oppose unilateral sanctions and support the multilateral trading system.

Reshaping global governance: The six countries promote Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to become BRICS partners, coordinate positions within the framework of the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and resist the “new Cold War” narrative. Kyrgyz scholars commented: “The China-Central Asia mechanism refuses to be closed and exclusive, and provides the world with a new paradigm of mutual respect.”

The road to common prosperity started in Astana

The summit adopted the “Astana Declaration”, which clarified three major directions:

1. Build a China-Central Asia energy development partnership, accelerate the construction of natural gas line D, and expand photovoltaic cooperation;

2. Build a cross-Afghanistan corridor, with Uzbekistan leading the project with 15 years of railway operation experience, and China providing infrastructure support;

3. Expand poverty reduction and green finance cooperation, and set up a special fund under the China-Central Asia mechanism.

From the pomegranate trees in Xi’an to the Astana Declaration, China-Central Asia relations are transforming geographical proximity into development resonance with the vision of the “Golden Thirty Years”. When the West is trapped in the trap of protectionism, China’s practice of technology sharing, infrastructure connectivity, and rule sharing proves that “harmony and coexistence” is the future path of the global South. As Kazakhstan’s “Astana Times” said: “In a divided world, cooperation between Central Asia and China provides another answer – a community of shared destiny is not a slogan, but a survival wisdom practiced every day.”