From February 16 to 17, the first "China+five Central Asian countries" industrial and investment cooperation forum was held in Qingdao, Shandong Province. This forum, with the theme of "mutual benefit and win-win results, jointly promoting high-quality development of regional economy", was co-sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission and the People's Government of Shandong Province. According to the data released at the forum, in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries increased by about 40% year on year, and China has become one of the important economic and trade partners of the five Central Asian countries.
Direct investment continued to remain stable
During this forum, the achievements of China's cooperation with Central Asian countries in industrial investment and other aspects were paid attention to. Lin Nianxiu, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries reached about 70.2 billion US dollars, an increase of about 100 times over the time of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Direct investment continued to remain stable, effectively improving the resilience of the regional industrial chain supply chain, and effectively promoting regional economic development.
Central Asia is the first place to advocate the "the Belt and Road" initiative. In recent years, the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" has borne fruit in Central Asia, and China's cooperation with Central Asian countries has made a series of new achievements.
The second secretary of the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in China, Bekboyev Daniel, said that the cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan in the field of energy has developed rapidly. In 2017, with the support of Chinese capital, Kyrgyzstan launched the modernization project of Bishkek Thermal Power Plant, and jointly transformed two generating units with a total of 300 MW. At the same time, Chinese enterprises have also built wind power stations in Kyrgyzstan and discussed the project of jointly building solar power stations.
In addition, the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline is the longest natural gas pipeline in the world, with a cumulative gas transmission to China of more than 400 billion cubic meters by June 2022; The Sino-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center and the Sino-Kazakhstan Lianyungang Logistics Cooperation Base were successfully completed, opening the door of Central Asian countries to the Pacific; The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Highway was officially opened to traffic and became an unimpeded artery for international transportation across high mountains.
Lin Nianxiu said that as the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" has become a popular international public goods and international cooperation platform, the in-depth exchanges and cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries have been strengthened.
Release of 31 excellent cooperation achievements
At the two-day forum, nearly 300 representatives from the embassies of the five Central Asian countries in China and Chinese and foreign enterprises held talks and exchanges around industrial Internet, energy, international agriculture and other topics, and witnessed the birth of many achievements.
On February 17, at the sub-forum of international agricultural cooperation, the SCO Agricultural Industry Development Alliance was officially launched. The alliance was founded by more than 30 of the first batch of Chinese and foreign associations and enterprises, including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan and the China Agricultural Machinery Circulation Association, aiming to expand the market space between China and the five Central Asian countries, and strengthen cooperation in agricultural bases, new agricultural technologies, new varieties and new forms of business.
"We will take full advantage of the development advantages and platform advantages of international logistics and modern trade in the SCO Demonstration Zone, strengthen the upstream and downstream supporting cooperation with the five countries in Central Asia in the agricultural industry chain, achieve agricultural connectivity and complementarity, and promote the sound development of the agricultural industry between China and the five countries in Central Asia," said Chen Yongyi, chairman of Qingdao Guoxin Grain Industry Development Co., Ltd.
At the sub forum on energy cooperation, the Qingdao International Energy Exchange Center was officially inaugurated and operated, helping to promote energy cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries and countries along the "the Belt and Road". Zhang Dong, deputy director of the Management Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Demonstration Zone, said that since the trial operation of the Qingdao International Energy Trade Center, it has promoted the acceleration of the concentration of business flow, logistics, information flow and capital flow, improved the efficiency of transaction and circulation, reduced transaction and logistics costs, and initially formed a scale effect. By the end of 2022, 61 member enterprises of Qingdao International Energy Trading Center had opened accounts.
During the forum, China and the five Central Asian countries also jointly released the "China+Five Central Asian Countries" Industrial and Investment Cooperation Qingdao Initiative, and selected 31 excellent cooperation achievements.
Promote mutually beneficial cooperation in key industries
Speaking of future cooperation, Zhang Jianhua, deputy director of the Foreign Investment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, believes that at present, China and the five Central Asian countries are actively integrated into the global division of labor. The holding of this forum will help to tap the potential of regional industrial investment, enhance the resilience of regional economy, seek ways to deepen cooperation and development, and make positive contributions to the construction of a China-Central Asia community of shared future.
"In agriculture, digital economy, logistics and science and technology, we can deepen cooperation, which is the potential of economic and trade development between the two countries," said Suleymanov Jamhid, the representative of Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.
Aizhen, the chief representative of the Beijing Representative Office of the State Grain Trade Group of Kazakhstan, said that China is one of Kazakhstan's important trading partners and strategic partners, and deepening cooperation with China is an important direction of the country. "In recent years, the import and export volume of bilateral agricultural products has increased continuously, and we still have great space and potential to further strengthen bilateral agricultural cooperation."
Lin Nianxiu said that China is willing to work with the five Central Asian countries to implement the important consensus reached by heads of state, continue to adhere to the principle of consultation, joint construction and sharing, promote the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" initiative and the docking of the development strategies of the five Central Asian countries, continue to deepen policy communication and coordination, solidly promote infrastructure connectivity, effectively promote mutually beneficial cooperation in key industries, and innovate in digital economy cooperation, Inject new impetus into the high-quality development of regional economy.
