Author: Yunis Sharifli

Kazakhstan has long courted electric vehicle makers to localize passenger car production, hoping to follow in Uzbekistan’s footsteps. Yet the real breakthrough may come from a different direction. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturing giant BYD’s plan to start with buses—rather than cars—marks a subtle but ...

This is a free preview of the upcoming China-Central Asia Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in late 2025. This week’s developments highlight how China is deepening its engagement with Central Asian societies through education, culture, and ...

This is a free preview of the upcoming China-Central Asia Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in late 2025. This week's developments demonstrate China's expansion into consumer-facing sectors across Central Asia, moving beyond infrastructure projects into direct ...

Despite widespread expectations that China’s engagement with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries would slow, recent data tells a different story. According to a new report from the Griffith Asia Institute, Chinese involvement in the 150 BRI countries surged in the first half of 2025, reaching ...

China’s growing presence in Kazakhstan’s energy sector marks a strategic evolution that extends far beyond traditional resource extraction. While Beijing has long focused on upstream oil and gas operations to secure energy supplies, recent agreements—particularly those emerging from the Second China–Central Asia Summit—point to a more comprehensive ...

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 highlight the intersection of China's digital technology capabilities with Central Asia's urgent modernization requirements across financial ...

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 ...

As Azerbaijan accelerates its transition toward renewable energy, Beijing’s clean energy ambitions are finding fertile ground. The country aims to nearly double its installed power generation capacity by 2030—targeting 6.5 GW of combined solar, wind, and hydropower—with renewables expected to make up at least 30 percent of ...

Having reshaped Central Asia’s oil and gas infrastructure and challenged Russia’s long-standing dominance of the region’s traditional energy sector, China is now setting its sights on nuclear power as the next frontier.  This next step is not just about energy diversification. ...

Amid intensifying geopolitical turbulence across China's periphery—from the Israel-Iran conflict in the Middle East, to India-Pakistan tensions in South Asia, and the protracted Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe—Beijing's neighborhood diplomacy has become an imperative for safeguarding regional stability.  In this shifting ...

As global trade tensions reshape the automotive industry, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are executing a strategic pivot that reveals the adaptive nature of modern industrial policy. Faced with mounting tariffs and regulatory barriers in Western markets, Beijing's EV champions are turning eastward and southward, seeking new frontiers ...

As global tensions rise over Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), a seismic shift is underway. With the European Union and the United States tightening their stance and slapping tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, China is responding with a bold new strategy: reshoring its industrial muscle to the Global South. ...