ASTANA – Kazakh companies signed export agreements worth nearly $100 million with China following Kazakhstan’s trade and economic mission on May 15-17 in Xi’an, the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration reported on May 16.
Kairat Torebayev. Photo credit: gov.kz.
The contracts envisage the supply of powdered camel milk, drinks, egg noodles, beef and lamb meat.
According to the Kazakh Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Kairat Torebayev, Kazakhstan has significant potential to supply eco-friendly agricultural products to China, including chilled and frozen poultry, meat, fish and by-products, among other high-margin goods.
“Kazakh companies are ready to offer the Chinese consumers a wide range of industrial and agricultural products in 135 additional commodity items worth over $1 billion,” he noted.
The KazakhExport export insurance company and Chinese international logistics company Wuhan Asia Europe Logistics signed a memorandum of cooperation to develop close commercial relations and increase the volume of non-primary exports of finished Kazakh products to China. This is one of the four strategic documents the countries signed during the event.
According to the memorandum, Wuhan Asia Europe Logistics will import Kazakh products and sell them in retail chains in the Hubei province and throughout China through thematic shops with specialized stands set up in the Kazakh national style.
Acting Deputy Mayor of Xi’an Lu Lai Shen noted the positive contribution of Kazakh businesses and government agencies to developing Kazakh-Chinese cooperation. He highly appreciated Kazakhstan’s ongoing participation in the Belt and Road Initiative launched by China’s President Xi Jinping ten years ago.
“We are here today in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is a great honor and pride for me to witness new achievements of Chinese-Kazakh cooperation,” he said.
Despite the post-pandemic period, mutual trade between Kazakhstan and China reached record levels, exceeding $24 billion last year, of which $13.2 billion accounted for Kazakh exports that grew by more than a third.
Imports of Chinese goods in Kazakhstan increased by 33.5% to $11 billion.
Over the first three months of this year, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $5.9 billion, which is 28.1% higher than in the same period last year ($4.6 billion).
More than 40 Kazakh producers and over 800 Chinese entrepreneurs attended the event organized by the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration and the QazTrade Trade Policy Development Center on the eve of the China-Central Asia Summit on May 18-19 in Xi’an.
