On the sidelines of the 9th China-Eurasia Expo, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy, Serik Zhumangarin, held a bilateral meeting with Ding Xuexiang, Vice Premier of the State Council of China, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Government’s press service.
During the talks, the two sides discussed prospects for further strengthening Kazakhstan-China strategic partnership, implementing joint investment projects, developing transport and logistics infrastructure, and expanding trade and economic cooperation. Zhumangarin highly praised the technological level of the 9th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi.
He emphasized that the cutting-edge technologies showcased at the exhibition open up fundamentally new opportunities for industrial cooperation between the two countries. Today, the exhibition featured advanced achievements in agrochemicals and drone manufacturing.
We would like to invite these producers and investors to Kazakhstan. We are ready to provide all the necessary conditions for the localization of production, Zhumangarin said. The sides noted the steady positive momentum in bilateral relations. By the end of 2025, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China had reached a record 48.7 billion US dollars.
During the first five months of 2026, bilateral trade amounted to 22 billion US dollars, representing a 27 percent increase compared to the same period last year. According to forecasts, the figure is expected to exceed 50 billion US dollar by the end of the year.
It was emphasized that more than half of total bilateral trade is generated through China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which remains a key area of economic cooperation between the two countries. Our main objective is to achieve bilateral trade of 100 billion US dollars in the near future.
To accomplish this, it is necessary to accelerate the approval of the Kazakhstan-China Trade and Economic Cooperation Program and Roadmap for 2027-2030, Zhumangarin noted. Investment cooperation was another major focus of the meeting. Since Kazakhstan’s independence, China has invested approximately 30 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment into the Kazakhstani economy, making it one of the country’s largest investors.
The Kazakhstani side invited Chinese businesses to participate in projects focused on creating high value-added products. Priority areas include deep processing of agricultural products, including wheat and corn, the development of full-cycle metallurgical production, and innovative projects in agrochemicals and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturing.
The sides also noted that trade in agricultural products between the two countries has already reached 2 billion US dollars. China has approved the import of 34 categories of Kazakhstani agricultural products, while another nine product categories, including chilled meat, are currently under review.
An important part of the discussions focused on transport and logistics cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Currently, around 85 percent of all overland freight shipments from China to Europe transit through Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is expanding its border-crossing infrastructure.