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China’s Premier Import Expo Creates More Space for Global South, But Hurdles Remain

The China International Import Expo (CIIE), which concluded early this week, was mainly taken as a litmus test of Beijing’s trade relations with conventional partners amid ongoing tariff disputes. Chinese importers signed $83.5 billion in import deals at the expo in Shanghai. ...

China’s Shadow Looms Over Trump’s Summit With Central Asian Leaders

U.S. President Donald Trump will host all five Central Asian leaders in Washington on Thursday, marking the first time they have been gathered together. This comes just a few months after they held separate summits with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Digital Silk Road 2.0: How China Is Shaping Central Asia’s AI Ecosystem

The race for artificial intelligence supremacy is now global. As the United States and China compete to define the future of AI, their rivalry increasingly shapes how they engage with the rest of the world. Washington leans on alliances and export ...

Turning Trash into Treasure: Chinese Waste-to-Energy Projects in Central Asia

Since the 1990s, energy has been at the heart of China’s engagement with Central Asia. What began with oil and gas pipelines has, in recent years, expanded into solar and wind, reflecting Beijing’s push toward greener development. Now, a new frontier is opening: waste-to-energy (WtE).

Beijing’s Golden Gambit: China’s Strategic Push into Central Asian Gold Markets

China’s footprint in Central Asia’s mineral wealth is deepening, with gold emerging as a strategic priority alongside critical minerals. While Beijing’s investments in copper, lithium, and rare earths are widely viewed as essential to sustaining its industrial base, its push ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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China-Central Asia Weekly News: Building Skills and Local Capacity

This is a free preview of the upcoming China-Central Asia Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in 2026. China's engagement with Central Asia is entering a new phase that extends far beyond the traditional Belt and ...

Localizing Cautiously: BYD’s Strategic Approach to Kazakhstan’s EV Market

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 ...

China–Central Asia Weekly Digest: Vocational Training, Cultural Centers & Governance Programs

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 ...

China-Central Asia Weekly Digest: China Brings E-Commerce, EVs & Health Closer to Consumers

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 ...

China’s Belt and Road Recalibration: Why Kazakhstan is the New Metals Frontier

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 ...

How Beijing is Deepening Stakes in Kazakhstan’s Energy Value Chain

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 ...

China-Central Asia Weekly Digest

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 ...
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