This is a free preview of the upcoming Central Asia Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025.
This week’s developments reveal Beijing’s strategy to relocate manufacturing capacity while establishing itself as the region’s primary technology provider across energy, automotive, and heavy industry sectors. The emergence of massive renewable energy investments alongside integrated steel production partnerships signals China’s response to global trade barriers—rather than fighting tariffs, Chinese companies are establishing regional production hubs that serve local markets while maintaining technological control.
These partnerships demonstrate mutual alignment, as China addresses regional countries’ modernization needs while extending its industrial ecosystem through technical training, regulatory standards, and integrated supply chains that create alternatives to traditional export-dependent trade models.
This week in China-Central Asia news:
Kyrgyzstan Signs Protocol for Chinese-Funded Food Safety Laboratory
The Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry and China International Development Cooperation Agency signed a protocol in Beijing for constructing a food safety laboratory in Bishkek. The facility, fully funded by China as development assistance, will be built to Chinese technical standards while incorporating local conditions and Kyrgyz legislation.
Why This Matters: The new laboratory aligns with Kyrgyzstan’s ambitions to boost agricultural exports to China. By adopting Chinese technical standards, Kyrgyz producers will gain improved access to Chinese markets, addressing regulatory hurdles and enhancing export capacity. For China, the initiative supports its broader strategy of diversifying food imports through trusted, stable partners like Kyrgyzstan.
By funding infrastructure that ensures compliance with its own import requirements, Beijing is not only facilitating Kyrgyz agricultural exports but also embedding its technical norms into Kyrgyzstan’s food safety system—deepening regulatory and economic ties between the two countries.
Uzbekistan Launches Chinese-Backed Automotive Training Center in Tashkent
Tashkent State Transport University will host the new Lingnan Higher Professional Workshop, signed at the Uzbekistan Consulate in Guangzhou with backing from Guangdong provincial government under the Belt and Road Initiative. The center focuses on automotive engineering, technical service, and hydrogen technologies, with a technical laboratory supported by Toyota, BYD, and Chery. The first phase receives $800,000 funding and targets both university and technical school students with hands-on training and internships.
Why This Matters: This initiative equips Uzbek students with practical skills in Chinese automotive technologies—particularly in electric vehicles, where BYD plays a leading role—thereby creating a future-ready workforce aligned with both local industry needs and broader Belt and Road Initiative objectives. By embedding Chinese technical standards into vocational training, China is laying the groundwork for potential manufacturing localization and regional supply chain development.
Alongside BYD’s electric car assembly plant in Uzbekistan and plans for expansion in Kazakhstan, the workshop helps form a regional talent pipeline, supporting China’s transition from being a vehicle exporter to a developer of an integrated automotive ecosystem in Central Asia.
Kazakhstan’s Qarmet Partners with Chinese Firm for Coal Plant Modernization
Kazakhstan’s Qarmet signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Chinese private firm Dadi Engineering Development Group to modernize coal enrichment facilities using dry beneficiation technology.
Why This Matters: While Chinese firms are rapidly expanding into renewable energy, they are also adapting to new environmental expectations within traditional sectors like coal. The use of dry beneficiation technology—which reduces water usage and minimizes waste—supports Kazakhstan’s broader goal of modernizing Soviet-era infrastructure while meeting higher environmental standards and public demands for sustainability.
For China, this agreement represents more than just project-level cooperation. It marks an opportunity to export clean industrial technology and establish a long-term presence in Kazakhstan’s energy sector. Beyond equipment upgrades, the deal may lead to technical training, workforce development, and follow-up investments—signaling a shift from transactional partnerships to sustained industrial collaboration.
Chinese Baibuting Group Launches $1.8B Renewable Energy Complex in Uzbekistan
Chinese private company Baibuting Group officially broke ground on a massive renewable energy project in Uzbekistan’s Akhangaran district, representing the largest single Chinese renewable investment in Central Asia. The 666.2-hectare complex will be developed over three years, starting with two 240 MW solar blocks and energy storage systems in the first $200 million phase. Subsequent phases will add wind turbines, hydropower, and biomass facilities, targeting 2 GW total capacity.
Why This Matters: The timing is strategic—as Uzbekistan phases out Soviet-era thermal plants, China is positioning itself to own the replacement infrastructure rather than compete for retrofitting contracts. Having already dominated Kazakhstan’s renewable landscape, China’s expansion into Uzbekistan is particularly significant given both countries’ plans to export green electricity to the EU through Azerbaijan and Georgia.
By supporting both generation and grid modernization, China’s involvement signals a long-term commitment to the region’s energy transformation. Rather than simply exporting surplus equipment, China is positioning itself as a key partner in the development of a trans-regional green energy corridor—playing a central role in the infrastructure that will underpin future electricity trade between Central Asia and Europe.
Kazakhstan’s Qarmet Partners with Shougang and Power China for $1B Rolling Mill Complex
Kazakhstan’s Qarmet signed a partnership agreement with Chinese state-owned companies Shougang and Power China to build a new rolling mill under the Belt and Road Initiative, targeting domestic metal production and import substitution. Shougang provides technology and design expertise while Power China serves as an industrial partner.
Why This Matters: This partnership represents China’s strategic response to global steel trade barriers by relocating production capacity rather than just exporting finished products. As Chinese steelmakers face 38 anti-dumping investigations globally and resort to exporting lower-value steel billets to bypass tariffs, the Qarmet collaboration offers a different approach—establishing integrated production facilities in Kazakhstan to serve regional markets without triggering trade restrictions.
This also positions Kazakhstan as a potential steel hub for regional markets, including Russia (facing sanctions) and Europe (imposing anti-dumping measures), while allowing Chinese steel technology and expertise to maintain influence without direct export dependency. The partnership essentially creates a sanctions-resistant, tariff-free steel supply chain that benefits both countries’ strategic interests while addressing China’s domestic overcapacity problem through overseas production rather than controversial exports.
In Context
This week’s developments point to China’s growing reliance on integrated industrial partnerships to simultaneously meet Central Asia’s modernization priorities and its own domestic restructuring needs. A core driver behind this strategy is China’s response to global trade restrictions, particularly in sectors like steel.
Rather than competing in tariff-constrained export markets, Chinese firms are relocating production to partner countries, offering a sanctions-resilient and regionally embedded alternative to traditional export models. These localized hubs serve both regional demand and Chinese industrial interests.
Equally important is the role of technical cooperation as a vehicle for long-term influence. Projects like food safety laboratories and automotive training centers extend Chinese technical standards into partner country institutions, fostering regulatory alignment and easing market access for local exports to China.
The takeaway: Rather than imposing control, China is co-creating regional value chains through long-term industrial integration. This approach enables Chinese companies to address overcapacity at home while supporting Central Asia’s modernization efforts. The result is a shift from export-led engagement to integrated co-production—anchored in skills transfer, infrastructure co-development, and regulatory alignment. These partnerships are reshaping the region’s economic foundations and defining a new phase of China–Central Asia cooperation.
