Kazakhstan's trade turnover with China has increased by 24% since the beginning of 2023. This was mentioned during the negotiations between the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Alihan Smaiylov, and the Deputy Premier of the State Council of China, Ding Xuesong, who is on a working visit to Astana, Kursiv.kz reports.
"In 10 months, mutual trade has grown by another 24%. I believe that at this rate, we will be able to achieve the goal of increasing the trade turnover to $40 billion, as outlined by the leaders of the two countries," said Prime Minister Smaiylov.
He noted that currently, bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and China demonstrates high figures. Last year, it increased by 35%, reaching an impressive volume of $24.2 billion. The dynamic growth continues this year, the prime minister highlighted.
Today, approximately 85% of goods from China to Europe are transported through Kazakhstan.
In the current year, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has already twice expressed the intention to increase trade with China and bring it to $40 billion. He mentioned that half of China's trade turnover with all Central Asian countries falls to Kazakhstan.
According to Tokayev, there are all conditions for maintaining a positive dynamic and reaching a level of trade turnover between Central Asian countries and China of $100 billion by 2030. He also addressed the issue of increasing exports by expanding the range of traded goods, stating that Kazakhstan can boost its exports to China in 135 non-commodity positions.
President Tokayev reminded that in April 2023, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the International Trade Center "Khorgos" on the Kazakhstan-China border resumed its operations.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
November 28, 2023