As the original initiator of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a demonstration zone for high-quality BRI joint development, the Central Asian region has seen continuous deepening of economic and trade relations with China, with bilateral trade steadily expanding. In the first five months of this year, Anhui’s import and export trade with the five Central Asian countries reached 3.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.5%, including exports of 3.52 billion yuan, up 44.4% year-on-year.

Key export products from Anhui to the five Central Asian countries include automobiles, auto parts, washing machines, and inverters. In recent years, Anhui’s manufacturing sector has developed rapidly, with primary imports from Central Asia being unrefined copper, unrefined lead, and unrefined zinc.

The launch of the "Hefei-Xinjiang-Europe" freight train has brought development opportunities for "Made in Anhui" products to directly access the Eurasian Continental Bridge and strengthen economic cooperation between Anhui and Central Asia. In June 2014, Anhui’s first international rail freight train, the "Hefei-Xinjiang-Europe" Central Asia route, departed from Hefeibei Station bound for Almaty, Kazakhstan, marking a historic breakthrough for Anhui’s international rail freight. Over more than a decade, the frequency and coverage of the China-Europe freight trains (Hefei) have expanded. In the first five months of this year, the Hefei route operated 365 trains, shipping 29,960 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) with a cargo value of nearly 2.9 billion yuan.

With Anhui enterprises continuously allocating resources and expanding markets globally, "Made in Anhui" automobiles are now widely seen across Central Asia. Products like the Xingrui and pickup trucks from JAC Motors have been deployed in the security system of Karaganda region, Kazakhstan. In 2024, JAC Motors’ annual terminal sales in the Kazakhstan market exceeded 13,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 50.2%, with a market share surpassing 6%. In September last year, JAC’s commercial vehicle CKD production line officially commenced production, marking the first truck CKD production line in Kazakhstan. Chery Automobile has invested $250 million to build a new factory in Uzbekistan, accelerating its penetration into the Central Asian market.

To achieve better development through higher-level openness and promote dual domestic and international circulation, Anhui had established 31 overseas enterprises (institutions) in Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) as of July last year, with contracted investment of nearly $1.1 billion and actual investments around $500 million. Conch Cement has set up companies in Karshi, Tashkent, and Andijan, established a regional management office in Uzbekistan, and invested about $700 million to build cement plants and offer integrated production, supply, and sales services.

Central Asian countries are in a period of accelerated economic development, with strong demand for urban construction and infrastructure upgrades. Anhui leverages its production capacity advantages in cement, section bars, glass, and other fields to expand the building materials market in Central Asia. Engineering companies like China Railway No.4 Engineering Group and Anhui Construction Engineering actively participate in major infrastructure projects and supporting works, creating demonstration projects in roads, bridges, housing, and transportation.

Focusing on green energy cooperation expansion, Sungrow New Energy Development Co., Ltd. from Hefei has successfully built a series of wind power projects in Akmola and Almaty regions of Kazakhstan. Anhui will continue to support key enterprises in the new energy sector such as Sungrow New Energy and China Energy Engineering to actively deploy wind power and photovoltaic projects in Central Asia, promoting the export of new energy equipment, standards, and technologies.

Source: Anhui Daily