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China is winning over Central Asia – but its growing influence could fuel a backlash
Beijing has made vast inroads while Russia and the US are distracted, but must play the long game.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and five Central Asian leaders signed a treaty of “permanent good neighbourliness” and friendly cooperation at this week’s China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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BEIJING – While some Western countries have viewed Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) as threats to their domestic industries and put up tariffs on these Chinese exports, Central Asia has welcomed them.
Brands from Zeekr and Chery ply the streets of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, where all taxis must be electric by September 2025. Kazakhstan saw a 36-fold rise in the sale of Chinese EVs in 2024, from 2023. BYD’s first plant in Central Asia, in Uzbekistan, began production in January 2024.
