ASTANA, Kazakhstan, December 9. The leaders of Kazakhstan and China have set a goal of increasing trade between the two countries to 100 billion dollars, so it is necessary to double the volume of trade with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), said the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan during a meeting with the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, Trend reports.
A meeting took place in Urumqi, China, between the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Serik Zhumangarin, and the Secretary of the XUAR Party Committee, Ma Xinzhui. During the meeting, participants discussed current issues of cooperation and prospects for intensifying collaboration.
It was noted that XUAR is the largest trade partner of Kazakhstan among all regions of China, accounting for nearly half of the bilateral trade between Kazakhstan and China.
To further enhance the efficiency of transport, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan proposed extending the practice of operating the "Nur Zholy"–"Khorgos" checkpoint 24/7 to all vehicle checkpoints. It was also highlighted that work is underway to open new checkpoints in the Almaty region (Narynkol–Muzart) and the East Kazakhstan region (Terekti–Aktobek).
Additionally, it was emphasized that another promising form of transport, an alternative to road and rail, is navigation. The Kazakh side proposed creating a multimodal transit corridor between Russia, Kazakhstan, and China using the transboundary Irtysh River. It is expected that in the initial stage, the volume of cargo transportation will reach 2 to 2.5 million tons. An agreement was reached to gradually increase the number of container trains from 600 to 2,000 units by 2029.
For his part, Ma Xinzhui, on behalf of the XUAR Party Committee, thanked the leadership of Kazakhstan for their contribution to advancing cooperation between Kazakhstan and China and Kazakhstan and XUAR, emphasizing that the mutual relations between the parties are currently at their best stage of development.
Serik Zhumangarin also raised the issue of reducing bureaucratic
barriers between Kazakhstan and XUAR, with most of these barriers
being related to the export of Kazakh agricultural products to
China.
As a result of the meeting, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister
Serik Zhumangarin invited the Secretary of the XUAR Party
Committee, Ma Xinzhui, to visit Kazakhstan on an official visit
next year.
To note, last year, trade volume with XUAR increased by 62 percent, reaching $20.3 billion. In the first nine months of 2024, trade between Kazakhstan and XUAR grew by 22.46 percent and reached $17.67 billion. In the first nine months of this year, cargo transportation through the Middle Corridor exceeded the total figures for the previous year by 23 percent, reaching 3.4 million tons. By 2030, the volume of cargo transportation is planned to increase to 10 million tons per year.