Central Asia serves as a globally significant arid agriculture region. By leveraging their natural resources and geographic advantages, Central Asian nations have implemented strategic policies in recent years to bolster agriculture development, enhance productivity, and expand agricultural exports.
Within this framework, China has steadily deepened agricultural cooperation with Central Asian countries, collaboratively advancing environmentally sustainable and green development practices.
A growing diversity of specialty products from Central Asia are now entering the Chinese market and gaining popularity among consumers, including Kazakhstan’s camel milk, Uzbekistan’s cherries, Tajikistan’s dried fruits, Kyrgyzstan’s honey, and Turkmenistan’s cotton.
Bilateral agricultural trade between China and Central Asian countries has experienced robust growth. Data shows that trade in agricultural products between China and the five Central Asian countries surged from 2.875 billion in 2023 – a 40-fold increase over two decades.
On May 21, China and Kazakhstan signed a new agreement permitting the entry of Kazakh poultry into the Chinese market. To date, over 2,500 Kazakh agricultural enterprises have secured authorization to export 29 categories of agricultural products to China.
Kazakhstan, endowed with abundant agricultural resources and robust production capacity, ranks among the world’s leading grain exporters. In 2024, bilateral agricultural trade between China and Kazakhstan reached $1.4 billion, a 10.5% year-over-year increase. Notably, Kazakhstan’s exports to China alone stood at $1.05 billion, with key commodities including animal feed, grains, oil crops, and vegetable oils. Impressive growth was observed in specific sectors: animal feed exports surged by 485%, vegetable oils rose by 26%, and rapeseed oil exports increased by 57%. In the first quarter of 2025, bilateral agricultural trade hit $430.5 million, marking a 45% increase year on year. China now serves as Kazakhstan’s largest market for agricultural exports, solidifying the strategic partnership between the two nations.
To streamline cross-border trade, China Customs has established 8 dedicated “green channels” for accelerated clearance of agricultural products from Central Asia, primarily facilitated through land ports. These measures provide robust logistical support for enhancing agricultural exports from Central Asian nations to China.
