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China-Central Asia in 2026: From Resource Access to Structured Interdependence

2025 marked an important inflection point in China-Central Asia relations. Not because China’s presence in the region was new, since Beijing has been a significant economic actor for more than a decade, but because the composition and structure of that engagement began to change in more visible ...

China’s Central Asia Push Runs Into Local Resistance

Official Chinese narratives have long depicted relations with Central Asian countries as uniformly friendly and mutually beneficial. Diplomatically, that image largely holds. Yet recent discussions on the Chinese internet suggest a more complicated reality on the ground where China’s growing economic footprint is increasingly met with local ...

Japan Targets Central Asia’s Critical Minerals in Bid to Reduce Reliance on China

Japan unveiled a five-year goal on Saturday for business projects totalling $19 billion in Central Asia as Tokyo vies for influence in the resource-rich region. The announcement came after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted an inaugural summit with the leaders of ...

The Perception Problem: Why Central Asians Remain Skeptical of Chinese Investment

Over the past decade, China has poured billions into the Central Asian countries, financing infrastructure, renewable energy, agriculture, and digital technologies, while presenting itself as a reliable development partner. Central Asian governments, eager for investment and diversification, have embraced China as a strategic ally in trade and ...

China-Central Asia Weekly News: New Seaport Development, BYD Battery Localization in Uzbekistan, and Healthcare Cooperation

This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in 2026. Chinese engagement with Central Asia is advancing through a combination of transport infrastructure development, automotive industry expansion, and medical ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

2026: Africa-China Relations in a World Shaped by North-South Geopolitics

When talking about Africa–China relations, one is always moving along a sliding scale. There are myriad interactions with Chinese entities that concern only individual African countries, segueing into trends affecting the whole continent and sliding further into global dynamics shaping the developing world, of which Africa is the heart.

The Africa-China relationship is its own thing, but Africa’s fate can’t easily be separated from factors affecting the wider Global South, ...

China-Central Asia Weekly News: Managing Friction, Sanctions, and Local Benefits

This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in 2026. Chinese engagement in Central Asia is facing several friction points that highlight the social and geopolitical complexities behind its ...

An Exhibition of ‘Civilizations’ in Beijing, and the Narrative China Is Quietly Writing

By Felix Brender 王哲謙 The Where Civilizations Meet exhibition at Beijing’s National Museum of China drew to a close this month. Showcasing artifacts from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, it was, at least on the surface, a celebration ...

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 ...
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