BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 24. China accounted for nearly 30% of all enterprises with foreign investment operating in Uzbekistan as of August 1, 2026, making it the country's largest source of foreign-invested businesses amid rapidly expanding economic ties between the two countries.
This was reflected in data published by Uzbekistan's National Statistics Committee.
A total of 20,973 enterprises with foreign investment were operating in Uzbekistan as of August 1, including 6,241 with Chinese participation. Of the overall total, 4,685 were joint ventures and 16,288 were foreign-owned enterprises.
Russia ranked second with 3,512 enterprises, followed by Türkiye with 2,327. Kazakhstan accounted for 1,321 enterprises, South Korea for 730 and Afghanistan for 706. Azerbaijan ranked seventh with 492 enterprises.
Kazakhstan accounted for 1,321 enterprises, South Korea for 730 and Afghanistan for 706. Azerbaijan ranked seventh with 492 enterprises, followed by Tajikistan with 467, the UAE with 453 and India with 439.
Trend's analysis shows that Uzbekistan's foreign-invested enterprise base remains concentrated among its largest economic partners. China, Russia and Turkey together accounted for 12,080 enterprises, or about 57.6% of the total.
China alone represented approximately 29.8% of all foreign-invested enterprises in Uzbekistan, meaning that nearly three out of every 10 such companies had Chinese participation.
The scale of Chinese business activity reflects the broader acceleration in economic ties between the two countries. Bilateral trade reached $17.8 billion in 2025, up 34% year on year, while Chinese direct investment in Uzbekistan increased fivefold to $17 billion, according to Uzbekistan's Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. More than 6,000 enterprises with Chinese capital were operating in the country as of July 2026.
Trend's calculations show that the 6,241 Chinese-invested enterprises recorded by the National Statistics Committee account for about 29.8% of Uzbekistan's entire foreign-invested enterprise base. The figure is also substantially higher than the 4,731 Chinese-invested enterprises reported as of November 2025, indicating continued rapid expansion of Chinese business presence.
The growth extends beyond the number of companies. According to the Eurasian Development Bank, China's FDI stock in Uzbekistan rose from just $284 million in 2016 to $10.7 billion in the first half of 2025. Energy accounted for about 51% of that stock, while manufacturing represented another 31%, pointing to a growing focus on industrial and energy projects rather than purely trade-related activity.
The structure of Chinese investment is particularly relevant to Uzbekistan's industrial development. The concentration of Chinese capital in energy and manufacturing links the bilateral relationship directly to the country's efforts to expand production capacity, modernize infrastructure and develop new industrial value chains.
Recent cooperation has also broadened into green energy, agriculture, technology, logistics and export-oriented manufacturing. At a July 2026 Uzbekistan-China business forum in Tashkent, companies discussed projects in mining, green energy, agriculture, health care, advanced technologies and industrial cooperation. Moreover, the two countries have also been expanding cooperation in digital infrastructure and irrigation modernization. Uzbek and Chinese officials agreed in April to accelerate projects under the "Digital Silk Road" and discussed Chinese financing for the modernization of Uzbekistan's irrigation infrastructure.
Trend's assessment is that China's position as Uzbekistan's largest source of foreign-invested enterprises is part of a much broader transformation in bilateral economic relations. The relationship has evolved from primarily trade-based ties toward deeper investment cooperation spanning energy, manufacturing, infrastructure, technology and agriculture.
For Uzbekistan, the growing Chinese presence provides access to capital, technology and industrial partnerships, while the diversification of projects could support the country's efforts to expand its manufacturing base and integrate more deeply into regional and global supply chains. At the same time, the concentration of foreign-invested enterprises among a handful of countries underscores the importance of continuing to diversify Uzbekistan's investor base.
