Kazakhstan making “titanic” efforts to be part of China’s Belt and Road

18.10.2023, 20:22 exclusive.kz

Kazakhstan is making “titanic efforts” to be part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road project,

according to Adil Kaukenov, the China expert at the government-funded Kazakhstan Institute of Strategic Research.

Kaukenov said that “being the main transit hub” between China and Europe, Kazakhstan is assigned “one of the leading roles” in the initiative, and it “promises decades of economic benefits”.

He added, in comments on his Telegram channel, that to be “a more attractive partner” to China, Kazakhstan has been “actively” expanding relations with it in various economic sectors.

President Kasymzhomart Tokayev is in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum, marking the initiative’s 10th anniversary – a massive infrastructure project designed to facilitate China’s trade with the rest of the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also attending, making his second foreign trip this year. Last week he was in Kyrgyzstan for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

China has been steadily increasing its economic presence in Central Asia since the Soviet collapse, investing mainly in the energy, transport and mining sectors.

The weakening of Russia’s clout, following its invasion of Ukraine, is giving China a chance to position itself as the main geopolitical player in the region. In May China hosted a China-Central Asia summit.

On Tuesday, ahead of the Forum, Tokayev held talks his Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Kaukenov said that Tokayev’s visit resulted in the signing of new “breakthrough accords” in the energy and petrochemical sectors.

One of them is a deal between the national oil and gas company, KazMunayGaz and China’s Sinopec on production of terepthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate (polyesters resin used for making fibres and film, or recyclable plastic) in Kazakhstan.

The production will be based in the city of Atyrau, in the oil-rich western Kazakhstan.

Another new deal signed in Beijing is on production sharing between KazMunayGaz, Sinopec and the Russian petrochemical company SIBUR to launch polyethylene production in Kazakhstan (each company’s respective shares will be 40, 30 and 30 percent).

The construction of the future plant, with an estimated cost of 7.7bn dollars, will begin in 2024. It is expected to produce 1.25m tonnes of polyethylene a year, bringing up to 1.5bn dollars in annual revenues, according to Kaukenov.

Kaukenov said the project could make Kazakhstan “one of petrochemical industry leaders with China serving as a reliable export market”.

He concluded that “very, very positive prospects” are opening up for Kazakhstan.

In a Telegram post on Wednesday, Kaukenov commented on the official group photo of the leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum.

Reminding that such photographs are “strictly choreographed”, Kaukenov noted that Tokayev was placed next to Xi, on his lefthand side. On the righthand side, there was Russian President Putin.

The Uzbek and Turkmen leaders each stood three persons away from Xi.