China-Central Asia Summit 2025: Co-Architecting Eurasia’s New Regionalism

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

At a time when global transitions and regional realignments are accelerating, China is no longer merely participating in Eurasia’s evolution—it is helping to architect it. The Second China–Central Asia Summit, held in Astana, marked a historic maturation: the first instance where a multilateral mechanism initiated by China in its immediate periphery has reached systemic and institutional depth. This signals a deliberate shift from vision-sharing to rule-shaping, from policy rhetoric to long-term operationalization.

Guided by President Xi Jinping’s articulation of the “China–Central Asia Spirit”—anchored in mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, and mutual assistance—the summit reaffirmed China’s strategic intent: to co-create a new model of regionalism grounded in sovereignty, equity, and durable prosperity.

In his keynote speech, President Xi laid out five foundational pillars for future cooperation: enduring friendship, pragmatic cooperation, joint security, people-to-people connectivity, and the pursuit of a fair international order. These are not abstract ideals; they are policy directives already embedded in treaties, frameworks, and action plans signed in Astana. Together, they chart a blueprint for how China envisions a rebalanced Eurasia—collaborative, sovereign, and multipolar.

Introduction: A Regional Inflection Point

The 2nd China–Central Asia Summit, held in Astana on June 16–17, 2025, marked more than a diplomatic gathering — it revealed a paradigm shift in Eurasian regionalism. As a long-time observer and practitioner deeply engaged in Central Asia, I witnessed a tangible elevation in how both China and its Central Asian partners approach cooperation: no longer as infrastructure contractors and recipients, but as co-designers of a future-oriented regional order.

This report offers a structured analysis of key outcomes from the summit, drawing on formal communiqués, leader-level discussions, institutional proposals, and sectoral agreements, with a special emphasis on the geopolitical, economic, and regulatory architecture now taking shape.

I. Strategic Architecture: Legal Foundations and Institutional Frameworks

The summit’s strategic intent was clearly outlined in the official opening address by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who framed the gathering as “a transition from a political dialogue format to a full-fledged multilateral mechanism for regional cooperation.” This framing underscored the maturation of the China–Central Asia platform from episodic summits to structured governance.

• Treaty on Eternal Good-Neighborliness, Friendship & Cooperation: Provides a durable political-legal foundation for mutual trust and regional peace. Among the agreements signed were landmark arrangements on:
  • A Treaty on Permanent Good-Neighborliness;
  • A Joint Action Plan for High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation;
  • Green Mineral Investment MOUs;
  • Industrial and Digital Innovation Centers in Tashkent and beyond;
  • Protocols supporting WTO accession and cross-border trade facilitation.
• Long-Term Partnership Concept: Operational roadmap with mechanisms and flagship projects to anchor the treaty in practice.

The summit institutionalized the China–Central Asia cooperation framework via the inauguration of four regional centers in China covering poverty alleviation, education, desertification control, and trade facilitation — all operational arms of the Long-Term Partnership Concept. These moves codify a regional architecture that favors stability through institutionalization over bilateral volatility.

II. From Infrastructure to Co-Industrialization

This summit confirmed a decisive evolution in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): a transition from “infrastructure first” to “industrial ecosystems next.”

Key examples:

• A Regional Center for Industrial Standardization & Certification will be built in Tashkent to harmonize technical norms.
• China and Tajikistan agreed on co-producing EVs, solar panels, and pharmaceuticals, indicating high-tech co-industrialization.
• Technology parks, research centers, and R&D clusters will be integrated with new Chinese capital.

This signals a long-awaited step toward value-chain embedding, moving Central Asia from a transit node to a regional production and innovation hub.

III. Digital Silk Road and Green Development

A multidimensional digital and ecological framework is emerging from the summit, one that aims not only to build connectivity—but to define the rules, platforms, and talent for a future digital Eurasia:

• Electronic Silk Road: The parties reaffirmed commitment to building an integrated digital trade platform under the Digital BRI, with a specific emphasis on cross-border e-commerce facilitation, mutual recognition of electronic signatures, and digital customs clearance protocols.
• Fiber Optic Digital Corridor: A high-capacity broadband spine linking e-learning, logistics, telemedicine, and data centers across the region. China proposed assisting in the construction of a secure regional fiber backbone extending from Xinjiang through to western Uzbekistan.
• Big Data and AI Network: The summit highlighted coordination on cross-border data governance, cybercrime prevention, and artificial intelligence capacity-sharing, with discussion of a future China–Central Asia Digital Security Dialogue platform.
• Digital Education Platforms: China pledged to expand virtual Chinese language and vocational training platforms, including AI-assisted remote learning, jointly developed with local institutions and Chinese edtech providers.
• Green Development Program 2030: The summit reaffirmed climate priorities through joint desertification control, ecosystem restoration, green mineral certification, and environmental innovation incubators.

These layered initiatives represent more than infrastructure—they are about the co-design of digital sovereignty, educational inclusion, and environmental stewardship. With these platforms, China and Central Asia are no longer reacting to digital globalization; they are actively shaping its Eurasian expression.

IV. Trade and Investment Facilitation

More than $17 billion in agreements were signed across sectors including:

• Energy (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan): Joint gas infrastructure, renewables, and nuclear projects.
• Transportation (CKU Railway): A Eurasian game-changer, slashing China–Europe transit times and catalyzing regional industrial corridors.
• Finance: China Development Bank’s $1B loan to Kazakhstan’s DBK, and the upcoming Central Asia–China Development Fund, recognizing that current international financing instruments fall short of covering the region’s infrastructure capital needs—estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Crucially, China also supported Uzbekistan’s WTO accession protocol, signaling intent to align regional trade rules with global standards.

V. Human Capital, Cultural Exchange, and Education

The summit expanded people-to-people ties through:

• “Cultural Heritage of the Silk Road” Portal: A virtual research and tourism hub.
• Rectors’ Forums, Academic Exchanges, and Research Grants: Institutionalizing educational diplomacy.
• Confucius Institutes, Luban Workshops, Technoparks: Creating platforms for skills transfer and professional alignment.
• A unified “Silk Road Cultural Heritage Portal” was proposed to preserve, digitize, and share regional cultural assets, further reinforcing the shared civilizational narratives underpinning this partnership.

Over 15,000 Central Asian students currently study in China — an investment in trust-building across generations.

VI. China–Central Asia Bilateral Engagements: Country-Level Highlights

Kazakhstan – Strategic Gateway and Energy Collaborator

Kazakhstan emerged as both a symbolic and practical anchor in China’s westward strategy. Key developments include:

• The co-construction of nuclear power plants with CNNC, signaling a new phase of high-trust energy cooperation.
• A $1B loan facility from China Development Bank to the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, deepening financial interlinkage.
• Border modernization and multimodal transport expansion under the Belt and Road Initiative.

President Xi hailed Kazakhstan as a “critical transit hub” and “strategic partner,” underlining its dual role in logistics and diplomacy.

Kyrgyzstan – Innovation Bridge and Transit Power

Kyrgyzstan reinforced its positioning as a digital and logistical bridge, with highlights including:

• Launch of a regional AI Cooperation Center with SCO partners.
• Agreements on agriculture, water resource management, and border health systems.
• Continued commitment to the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway, positioning the country as a pivotal node in the Eurasian corridor.

President Japarov emphasized technology, infrastructure, and sustainable development as core cooperation pillars.

Uzbekistan – Industrial Anchor and WTO Partner

Uzbekistan reaffirmed its ambition to become the industrial heart of Central Asia. Key achievements:

• Bilateral trade hit $14B; investment stock exceeds $60B, making China its largest investor.
• Expansion of joint technoparks, EV production, and smart logistics platforms.
• Signing of the WTO Accession Protocol with China’s support — a milestone in multilateral integration.
• Strategic coordination on education, AI, green tech, and textile trade deepen Uzbekistan’s industrial and human capital capacity.

Tajikistan – Climate Diplomacy and Innovation Hub

Tajikistan’s engagement centered on diversified industrialization and soft power diplomacy:

• Agreements on electric vehicles, solar panels, pharmaceuticals reflect a shift toward value-added manufacturing.
• Cooperation on AI, academic exchange, and direct air connectivity with Beijing.
• President Xi praised Tajikistan’s climate advocacy, notably its glacier preservation efforts, making environmental governance a bilateral pillar.
• Establishment of a Strategic Dialogue Mechanism and sister-region ties between Sughd and Shaanxi.

Turkmenistan – Gas Partner and Energy Integrator

Turkmenistan’s primary emphasis remained on energy and sovereign partnership:

• Pledged an increase in gas exports to China and initiated talks on a regional energy security roadmap.
• Infrastructure integration and mutual respect were underscored by President Berdimuhamedov, calling China a “win-win” collaborator.
• Discussions also explored diversification through transport and soft-power instruments.

VII. A New Blueprint for Regionalism: The “China–Central Asia Spirit” in Practice

At the ideological heart of the 2nd China–Central Asia Summit lies a powerful and intentional proposition: a new form of regionalism—neither transactional nor hegemonic, but cooperative, sovereign, and future-oriented. This vision was articulated through what President Xi Jinping defined as the “China–Central Asia Spirit,” a four-part foundation built upon:

• Mutual Respect for sovereignty, development paths, and cultural identities;
• Mutual Trust rooted in long-term political commitment and institutional regularity;
• Mutual Benefit through economic inclusivity, sustainable investment, and shared value chains;
• Mutual Assistance in development, capacity-building, and regional security stabilization.

Institutionalizing Principles into Mechanisms

Unlike previous rounds of high-level diplomacy, this summit marked a transition from rhetorical alignment to institutional delivery. Several mechanisms embody this transformation:

• The Treaty on Eternal Good-Neighborliness and Cooperation, serving as a legally binding framework to anchor long-term relations;
• The Four Chinese Regional Centers to be established (poverty reduction, education, desertification control, trade facilitation), directly translating political consensus into operational platforms;
• A Central Asia–China Development Fund, reflecting financial co-ownership and shared risk in major regional initiatives.

These moves illustrate a deliberate attempt to move beyond ad hoc cooperation into codified, multilateral structures that deliver tangible outcomes.

Shaping a Post-Post-Soviet Order

Perhaps most significantly, the summit outlined an emerging post-post-Soviet regional identity—one in which Central Asia reclaims narrative, logistical, and institutional centrality. In this blueprint, China is not merely “filling a vacuum” but helping co-design an order that is regionally led, internationally networked, and structurally inclusive.

This blueprint represents more than a foreign policy adjustment; it is a template for how developing regions might jointly negotiate with major powers while maintaining their agency, voice, and vision.

VIII. Expecting a better region: Co-Shaping a Multipolar Eurasian Order

This summit was not about declarations but implementation. The launch of major transport projects like the CKU railway, the creation of industrial governance institutions, and co-investment in digital sovereignty signal a region claiming its agency in global transformation.

As someone actively engaged in Central Asia–China cooperation — including through project evaluation, capacity-building, and partnerships with institutions such as the EBRD — I view this moment as both a consolidation and a beginning.

Central Asia is no longer a passive route for east-west connectivity. It is becoming a platform of co-governance, co-innovation, and strategic resilience. And China, through this summit, has shown its intent to be not only a builder of roads, but a co-author of regional futures.

Conclusion

The 2nd China–Central Asia Summit profoundly reshaped Eurasian regionalism by transitioning from abstract vision to codified institutional frameworks, embodying the “China–Central Asia Spirit” of mutual respect and benefit. This strategic shift underscores a deliberate move towards co-governance, co-innovation, and integrated development, positioning Central Asia as a proactive co-architect of a multipolar Eurasian order.

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