Mohammad Ali Tipu from China
Second China-Central Asia Summit, convened on June 17, 2025, in Astana, Kazakhstan, marked a pivotal moment in regional diplomacy.
Bringing together leaders from China and the five Central Asian nations—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—the summit built on the foundation laid during the inaugural meeting in Xi’an, China, in May 2023.
Xi and the leaders of the five Central Asian nations signed the treaty on eternal good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation.
China and the five Central Asian countries also cooperate on security issues within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). China is set to host this year’s SCO summit.
Hosted at the invitation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the event was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Central Asian counterparts. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The summit aimed to deepen economic, security, and cultural cooperation, reinforcing the China-Central Asia mechanism as a platform for mutual benefit and regional stability. This report consolidates key outcomes, agreements, and perspectives from the summit, drawing on various sources to provide a comprehensive overview.
China and Central Asian countries are willing to improve road and railway connectivity, and will look to open more direct flights to and from China as they agreed to enhance exchanges. China will look at simplifying visa procedures with the five Central Asian countries while all parties will study the feasibility of opening consular offices.
China, together with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, will also accelerate the modernisation of existing port facilities and look at the need for new ports.
Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a treaty to elevate ties with Central Asian nations as Beijing looks to further deepen cooperation on trade, energy and infrastructure with the resource-rich region.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared that ties between Central Asia and China have reached the level of an eternal and comprehensive strategic partnership as he addressed the summit.
Tokayev also pointed to the development of a long-term strategy for the Central Asia-China format for 2026-2030.
According to Tokayev, the combined GDP of the Central Asian region is approaching the half-trillion-dollar mark. Intraregional trade has surpassed $10 billion over the past five years. In 2024, China accounted for nearly 40% of Central Asia’s foreign trade, totaling a record $95 billion. Kazakhstan alone contributed nearly $44 billion to this figure.
He stressed that Central Asia is becoming a key logistics hub linking the largest regions of Asia and Europe. In 2024, the total volume of cargo transportation from China through Central Asian countries exceeded 211,000 containers, representing a 12% increase. Kazakhstan accounts for 85% of all land transportation from China to Europe.
Introducing the first link of the Belt and Road Initiative, Kazakhstan advocates for its connection with the key transport corridors of Western China-Western Europe, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), and the North-South route.
Second China – Central Asia Summit – Key Outcomes and Agreements
“Given the rich, successful experience of China in nuclear energy, we are interested in developing sustainable cooperation in this strategic area. We will prepare to sign the agreement in the very near future,” Tokayev added.
He called for enhanced collaboration on security threats such as extremism, terrorism, separatism, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade, migration, and human trafficking, advocating for Central Asia to become the “epicenter of peace, sustainable security and productive interaction.”
In his talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Xi stressed that China and Tajikistan should further strengthen law enforcement and security cooperation and step up efforts to crack down on terrorism, separatism and extremism.
President Xi Jinping met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the sidelines of the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana.
President Xi Jinping and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met at the sidelines. They discussed strategic plans for the development of bilateral relations. Xi Jinping emphasized that China and Uzbekistan should introduce more measures for trade liberalization and facilitation, expand the scale of bilateral trade and investment, and advance the high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to foster a multidimensional connectivity network.
In talks with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov , Xi emphasized the same on China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
While meeting with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Xi said that both sides should effectively implement the strategic alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and Turkmenistan’s development strategy to revive the Great Silk Road.
