Kazakhstan and China are set to bring trade turnover from the current $40 billion to $100 billion, QazMonitor reports citing Akorda.
What happened: On May 16, China's Vice Premier of the State Council, Liu Guozhong, visited Astana and met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin to advance bilateral agreements.
Bilateral trade plans: During the meeting, President Tokayev highlighted the upward trajectory of the Kazakh-Chinese strategic partnership. Both sides discussed measures to boost trade turnover from $40 billion in 2023 to $100 billion in the future. They also explored enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, transportation, logistics, energy, tourism, and cultural and humanitarian ties.
Agricultural cooperation: Deputy Prime Minister Zhumangarin and the Chinese delegation focused on agriculture, noting that wheat is a key export from Kazakhstan to China. In 2023, Kazakhstan exported 592,000 tons of wheat to China, with 220,000 tons already exported in the first quarter of 2024. Over the past five years, crop exports to China have surged from 750,000 tons in 2019 to 3.5 million tons in 2023.
We invite Chinese businessmen to collaborate on joint projects in Kazakhstan for the production and deep processing of agricultural products, based on the principles of production cooperation. We are ready to export a variety of foodstuffs, including grain and oilseed crops, meat, poultry, dairy and fish products, honey, fodder, and more.
In June, Kazakhstan and China will host the first Kazakhstan-China Grain Forum in Xinjiang. The forum will include representatives from businesses, government agencies, and state companies involved in grain trade regulation.
The Kazakh side also proposed establishing a joint agriculture cooperation subcommittee. This subcommittee will include the Ministries of Agriculture and Transport of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the General Administration of Customs of China, and the National Railway Administration of China to address emerging issues efficiently.