Description: Chinese President Xi Jinping met the leaders of five central Asian countries on the Central Asian Summit held in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. Xi reiterated China’s support for the stability in the region and pledged more close cooperation in crucial sectors such as energy, infrastructure, trade and mining. Xi also met the leaders of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan with whom he also exchanged vows of enhanced Chinese involvement in the region in a period where the world is accelerating towards a multi – polar geopolitical order. Russia’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that enlarged Chinese influence in the former Soviet states didn’t pose threats to Russia as China was an exclusive natural partner as well as the other five countries.
Impact: China continues enlarging its geostrategic portfolio on the domestic Asian front as potential strategic partnerships in Central Asia emerge through the Central Asian Summit. Since the beginning of the trade war with the US, President Xi Jinping engaged in contracting soft power and diplomatic capital as well as extending China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia and now Central Asia. The former Soviet republics are crucial for China’s ground trade routes connecting the country to the Middle East, Europe and key trade routes that run through the Caspian Sea. The countries are rich in natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals and gold which further strengthens China’s position of dominion on the rare earth minerals market and influence the country’s dependence on natural energy from other resources such as war impacted Iran. Building comprehensive strategic ties with dominant central Asian countries enables China to establish a firm foothold on its western borders and potentially a future launch pad for influence operations in the Middle East and the Caspian Sea regions.