China’s Trade With Central Asia Surges 6.5%
Desperate for Fuel, Russia Looks to Kazakhstan for Refining Capacity Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on… China’s trade turnover with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the largest economies in Central Asia, showed strong growth in the first half of 2026, as did trade with Tajikistan.
Meanwhile, the numbers for Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan fell,accordingto the PRC’s General Administration of Customs.
China’s overall trade with the region showed a year-on-year increase of 6.5 percent, rising from$49,70 billionin the first half of 2025 to$52.94 billionduring the same period this year.
The balance of trade was lopsided in Beijing’s favor by a roughly 2-to-1 ratio: $34.94 billion to $18 billion.
Kyrgyzstan experienced a dramatic – and unexplained – drop-off in its commerce with the PRC – seeing bilateral turnover fall from $14.25 billion in H1 2025 to $9.7 billion during the same period this year. Kyrgyz exports to China plunged to just $75 million during the first six months of 2026, from $3.89 billion during H1 last year.
Kyrgyz imports from China shrank from $10.36 billion to $9.63 billion during the same timeframe.
Neither Kyrgyz nor Chinese authorities have ever explained what kind of goods accounted for Kyrgyz exports skyrocketing from tens of millions in 2023 tobillions in 2024 and 2025, and why they have now spiked back down.
Kyrgyzstan has been accused of being amajor transit hubfor funneling sanctioned goods to Russia.
Analysts speculate that the dramatic fluctuation in exports is related to Russia’s in-kind payments – in gold or other valuable commodities – for sanctioned goods made via Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan became the region’s leader in terms of trade growth, boosting commerce with the PRC by 31 percent, from $6.75 billion in the first half of 2025 to $8.87 billion during H1 this year.
The balance of trade, however, squarely favored China: Beijing exported $7,65 billion worth of goods and services to Uzbekistan during the first half of this year, up from $5.96 billion in H1 2025, while imports during that period grew from $797 million to $1.22 billion.
Kazakhstan was not far behind its southern neighbor, boosting year-on-year trade with the PRC by 25 percent, from $21.8 billion to $27.2 billion.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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