New Changes in Kazakhstan's Foreign Trade Pattern: China Surpasses Russia as the Largest Source of Imports for Kazakhstan

(Report by Kazakh International News Agency on May 14) According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, during January and February 2025, the total amount of goods imported by Kazakhstan from China exceeded that from Russia for the first time. In these two months, the proportion of Chinese goods in the total import volume of Kazakhstan's foreign trade reached 28.8%, slightly higher than Russia's 28.5%.

This marks a further rise in China's position in Kazakhstan's import market. It is worth noting that over the past decade, Russia has always been Kazakhstan's largest trading partner in imports. Last year, one out of every three imported goods in Kazakhstan came from Russia, accounting for approximately 29.7% of the total annual import volume.

Significant Changes in the Structure of Chinese Export Commodities

According to data from the Ministry of Trade and Integration, imports of various industrial and technological goods from China have increased significantly. Among them, the import value of road and construction equipment increased threefold to $65.2 million; liquid and powder spraying equipment imports surged sevenfold to $37.2 million.

In addition, computer products exported to Kazakhstan from China increased by 30%, reaching $123.5 million; imports of power generation sets grew fourfold to $35.1 million; car body imports increased by more than 43% year-on-year to $79.3 million.

In terms of industrial raw materials, imports of heat treatment equipment increased fourfold to $29.4 million; aluminum plates, strips, and foils also doubled to $28.5 million.

A Significant Decline in Russian Export Commodities

In contrast, some traditional strategic commodities imported from Russia showed a significant decline. For example, imports of unrefined copper and copper anodes were zero in the first two months of this year, while the import value of such commodities last year was $68.2 million. Wheat imports also plummeted, dropping from $73.3 million to just $5.7 million, a decrease of more than nine times.

Imports of plastic products fell tenfold to $5.9 million; unprocessed gold imports dropped from $39.5 million last year to none this year. Knitted clothing imports fell by about 45%, reaching $41 million.

Meanwhile, imports of ordinary steel semi-finished products decreased by 39%, and hot-rolled steel imports fell by nearly 41%, to only $26.5 million.

Ongoing Impact of Restrictions on Wheat Imports

Kazakhstan implemented restrictive measures on wheat imports starting in 2023, and a complete ban was imposed from July 2024 onwards to prevent cheap Russian wheat from impacting the domestic market. This ban continued until February 2025, when Russian exports resumed.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832069172452361/

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