Xi Lures 5 Central Asian Nations With Promises Of A Prosperous Future

While state leaders of the wealthy Group of Seven (G7) and their counterparts from guest nations gathered in Hiroshima last week to announce their plans to counter China’s “malign” practices and tackle economic coercion, President Xi Jinping was courting five Central Asian nations with promises of deals, boosting law enforcement, security and defense capability construction after his storied Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sputtered and China has been slammed for throwing poor nations down the rabbit hole, Zuang Pinhui stressed in an analysis for South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Photo Insert: Leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, who were holding their first-ever in-person meetings under the new mechanism since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992, also pledged support for each other’s core interests and approach to development.

By the time Xi had wrapped up chairing of the inaugural China-Central Asia Summit, which took place in the symbolic city of Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, a grand plan that involved a total of 26 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) of financial support and grants had been announced.

Xi also called for the expansion of economic and trade ties and energy cooperation, including speeding up the construction of line D of the China-Central Asia gas pipeline.

He also proposed establishing a China-Central Asia energy development partnership, expanding trade in oil and gas, pursuing cooperation throughout the energy industrial chains, and strengthening cooperation on new energy and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, who were holding their first-ever in-person meetings under the new mechanism since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992, also pledged support for each other’s core interests and approach to development.

Together, leaders of the six countries also stressed the importance of improving connectivity in the region, including better transport links between Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the rest of the continent.

China has been increasingly vocal about establishing a Chinese-led global order via its Belt and Road Initiative - a major infrastructure policy announced by Xi when he visited Kazakhstan in 2013 - and the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, which were proposed by China in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

As part of the summit, Xi held a series of one-on-one meetings with the five leaders, who all expressed support for greater Chinese engagement in the region, including under the flagship Belt and Road Initiative.

The two main Belt and Road Initiative projects currently under discussion are a railway connecting China to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan.

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