China continues to be Kazakhstan's largest trading partner: bilateral trade reached $48.7 billion in 2025, with Kazakhstan’s exports to China steadily expanding.

According to Kazinform, during his visit to China, Minister of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan Arman Shakhaliyev attended the China (Shandong)–SCO Countries Import Goods Procurement Matchmaking Event. This platform has become one of the core mechanisms driving Kazakhstani products into the Chinese market.

In his opening speech, Shakhaliyev emphasized that Kazakhstan views China as a strategic partner and is systematically deepening cooperation in trade, investment, and industrial collaboration.

He pointed out that under the strategic guidance of the heads of state, Kazakh-Chinese relations have been elevated to a new height of permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. This is clearly reflected in stable growth in trade volume, continuous expansion of investment cooperation, and deep integration in industrial collaboration. Currently, China is Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, while Kazakhstan serves as a reliable supplier of energy, agricultural products, and raw materials to China. Over the past three years, bilateral trade has shown strong momentum: growing from $41 billion in 2023 to $48.7 billion in 2025. He noted that this figure reflects the profound complementarity between the two economies, practical cooperation among enterprises, and strong support from developed regions such as Shandong Province in China.

During his visit, Shakhaliyev also held meetings with Vice Governor Wen Nuan of Shandong Province and Mayor Ren Gang of Qingdao City.

In the talks, both sides discussed directions for deepening economic, trade, and investment cooperation, including industrial collaboration, logistics transportation, and the introduction of advanced technologies. Shakhaliyev stated that current Kazakh-Chinese cooperation is at its historical peak and maintains a continuously positive trend.

Shakhaliyev stressed that while expanding total trade volume, ensuring a transition in trade quality is crucial. High-value-added products should be prioritized, and processing depth enhanced. The meeting particularly focused on the implementation of joint investment projects, with Kazakhstan confirming readiness to establish joint ventures using advanced and environmentally friendly technologies.

"For us, it is essential to ensure that newly built production facilities meet international high environmental standards and contribute to sustainable development," he said.

Both sides also highly valued the significance of subnational cooperation. As one of China’s leading industrial and trade hubs, Shandong Province is an important partner for Kazakhstan. By the end of 2025, trade between Kazakhstan and Shandong had reached $2.2 billion, demonstrating rapid growth. Shakhaliyev expressed confidence that active local-level interactions will inject additional momentum into the comprehensive development of Kazakhstan-China relations. During the event, he also visited the national pavilion showcasing products from Kazakhstani domestic producers.

The pavilion highlighted Kazakhstan’s export potential and the confidence of local enterprises in expanding their market share in China. Shakhaliyev particularly emphasized the pragmatic orientation of the event, noting that direct dialogue and B2B meeting formats help achieve concrete agreements and launch cooperation projects within a short time frame. During the forum, Kazakhstan also promoted opportunities for expanding non-resource exports, developing e-commerce, and building stable value chains.

Shakhaliyev stated that Kazakhstan aims to further deepen all-round cooperation with China.

While in Qingdao, Shakhaliyev also toured the production base of Haier Group, a global leader in home appliances and digital "smart home" solutions. Additionally, he met separately with senior executives from leading Shandong enterprises—Qingdao Dadao Grain Co., Ltd. and Rui Xue Global—discussing topics such as investment cooperation, expanding agricultural product exports, establishing modern production lines in Kazakhstan, and introducing advanced agricultural technologies.

Notably, on the first day of the matchmaking event, Kazakhstani companies achieved significant results: signing trade agreements totaling approximately $125 million with Chinese partners, covering supplies of feed flour, oilseed crops, and various other agricultural products.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861249800944643/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.