How energy is powering China’s relationships with Central Asia
- Beijing is seen in the region as a reliable partner compared with the US and Russia, analyst says
- Two-thirds of China’s gas pipeline imports came from Central Asia last year
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian for a two-day China-Central Asia summit, an event that comes as China faces growing decoupling pressure from the US-led West.
“As a neighbouring region to China, Central Asia has been at a prominent place in China’s overall diplomatic landscape, and energy cooperation is an effective means to push forward cooperation in other areas from the economy to security and other political issues,” said Cui Shoujun, an international relations professor with Renmin University in Beijing.
Stretching from China in the east to the Caspian Sea in the west, Central Asia – traditionally considered Russia’s backyard – has abundant reserves of oil, gas and coal, particularly in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
There is also huge untapped hydropower potential in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, according to the World Bank.
Energy cooperation between China and Central Asia started as early as the 1990s, when Beijing, after over two decades of economic opening up, pushed its enterprises to invest overseas.
