On the ancient Silk Road, China, Central Asia and the Mediterranean countries facilitated the massive circulation of commodities through trade, and now China and Central Asia have gradually formed a pattern of regional cooperation under the framework of the “One Belt, One Road”, with more connected facilities and smoother trade. On a common border of more than 3,300 kilometers, China and Central Asian countries have joined hands to build a new road of good-neighborliness and win-win cooperation.
Kazakhstan has historically been an important node of the Silk Road, and is also the first place where the “One Belt, One Road” is built. At present, China and Kazakhstan are engaged in production capacity and investment cooperation, and many cooperation projects involving infrastructure, agriculture and energy, such as the Almaty photovoltaic power plant and the modernization of the Chimkent oil refinery, have come to fruition. In terms of capital financing, the bilateral local currency settlement between China and Kazakhstan has been gradually expanded; the China-Kazakhstan special fund for production capacity cooperation has fully utilized financial platforms such as the Asian Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund (SRF) to provide new financial channels for the construction of the Belt and Road together.
Kyrgyzstan is one of the earliest countries to support the construction of “Belt and Road”, and is also a demonstration area for the construction of “Belt and Road”. Under the framework of “One Belt, One Road”, China and Kyrgyzstan have jointly implemented a series of infrastructure and livelihood projects, including the Bishkek Municipal Road Network, the China-Gyzy-Uzbekistan Highway, the Datska-Kemin Transmission and Transformation Line Project, the Irrigation System Improvement Project, and the Osh Hospital. The two sides will also improve the efficiency of transit at the Turugart and Irkeshtan ports, expand the volume of transit cargo, and develop China-Europe multimodal transportation across Kyrgyzstan.
China and Turkmenistan are actively carrying out natural gas cooperation to build a new era of China-Turkey “Energy Silk Road”. The China-Central Asia gas transportation pipeline, which has been described as “a restoration of the ancient Silk Road in contemporary conditions”, is about 10,000 kilometers long, of which 188 kilometers are within the territory of Turkmenistan. In addition to natural gas pipelines, oil and gas investment projects are also being actively carried out between China and Turkmenistan. The Amu Darya gas project operated by PetroChina in Turkmenistan has built an annual production capacity of 10 million tons of oil and gas equivalent, with an annual gas supply capacity of 10 billion cubic meters.
In Tajikistan, a number of projects of strategic significance, such as the Tawau Highway, the first phase of the China-Tajikistan Highway, the North-South Transmission Line, the Legar 500 kV substation, the Dushanbe No. 2 thermal power plant, the Vakhdat-Yavan Railway Bridge, and the Yavan-Vakhdar Railway, are being implemented smoothly, providing impetus for the economic and social development and improvement of people's livelihoods in Tajikistan. On July 5, China and Tajikistan issued a joint statement that the two countries would like to further deepen the cooperation on China-EU liner under the framework of “Belt and Road”, build China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan transportation corridor, and jointly build China-Tajikistan-US-Turkmenistan-Iranian railway. -Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey multimodal transportation corridor.
Uzbekistan is an important participant in the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism and a crossroads connecting Central Asia with China and other regions. The opening of the Angren-Papu railroad tunnel constructed by China has put an end to the history of mountainous travel in the region. The opening of the Sino-Japanese-Ukrainian Highway has become a major international transportation artery across the mountains.
Today, China and five Central Asian countries have formed about 70 pairs of friendly provinces and cities, more than 10 Confucius Institutes in Central Asia. “China has become one of the main destinations for students from Central Asian countries. China and Central Asia once shared the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road, and now both sides are taking the opportunity of building the “One Belt, One Road” to move forward to high-quality cooperation and development. In the new era, the millennia-old friendly relations between China and Central Asia have been revitalized and are showing great vitality.