ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 4. China has signed an investment agreement for the production of Geely, Exeed, and KAIYI passenger cars in Kazakhstan, Trend reports.
The agreement, amounting to $150 million, is set to create over 1000 jobs and will contribute to the development of high-quality domestic products.
This project was discussed at a Kazakhstan-China investment roundtable with business representatives during the official working visit of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Olzhas Bektanov, to China. Negotiations with the Premier of the State Council of China, Li Qiang, are also planned.
The roundtable featured representatives from leading companies in sectors such as metallurgy, energy, machine engineering, and automotive manufacturing. It was noted that the construction of a factory for the production of CHANGAN, HAVAL, and CHERY vehicles, based entirely on small-scale assembly with a capacity of 90.000 units, is nearing completion.
Representatives from various companies spoke as well; for example, the Vice President of CP Pharmaceutical Group, Se Lei, discussed plans to create a medical cluster, while the General Director of Beiqi Foton Motor, Wu Sibilin, spoke about localizing automotive production in Kazakhstan. Yan Junyi, Chairman of the Board of the engineering consulting company ACRE, informed attendees about technology transfer collaboration, and Chen Jianhehui, Chairman of the Board of Darwin Biotech Co., shared intentions to expand cooperation with Kazakh partners in agriculture.
As a result of the meeting, eight commercial agreements were signed, totaling $2.5 billion.
After the negotiations in Shanghai, Olzhas Bektanov also visited the "Robot Valley" in the science city of Zhangjiang, where he learned about the latest achievements in the Chinese robotics industry in healthcare, manufacturing, and services.
Currently, more than 80 Chinese and foreign robotics companies operate in this scientific and technological center.
Last year, trade between Kazakhstan and China reached a record $31.5 billion. Previously, negotiations had taken place between Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the goal of doubling the volume of bilateral trade from last year's historical record.