By Temuri Yakobashvili (the 16/10/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Twenty years after establishing diplomatic relations with the Central Asia states, China’s economic engagement in the region has expanded to billions of dollars in investments, loans, and energy sales. President Xi Jinping’s September tour concluded with extended aid sums reminiscent of the Marshall Plan. Agreements focused on the fields of energy, trade and finance, and infrastructure, cementing China’s role as Central Asia’s primary economic benefactor. China continues to outpace Russia in both bilateral trade and foreign direct investment measures, though President Xi Jinping is careful not to challenge Russian political primacy in the region. China’s contributions to Central Asia should not discourage the West from participating in regional integration projects and enjoying the rewards.
By Tavus Rejepova (the 16/10/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Turkmen and Chinese energy officials, in the presence of Turkmenistan's and China's Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Xi Jinping, signed a number of new agreements and contracts on September 3-4 on the development of Turkmenistan's giant Galkynysh (Renaissance) gas field and to increase the supply of Turkmen gas to China to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year by 2020. A total of thirteen bilateral documents including the energy sector deals were signed to bring the Turkmen-Chinese cooperation to a new strategic level.
by Robert M. Cutler (05/01/2013 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Days after the conclusion of the late-March summit in Moscow between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev met with Xi during a visit to China to attend the multilateral Boao Forum of Asia (BFA), which styles itself the Asian Davos. The two leaders established a new bilateral business council, signed numerous agreements for economic cooperation including infrastructure construction, and deepened still further Chinese participation in the development and bringing-to-market (and especially bringing-to-China) of Kazakhstan's impressive raw materials resources, most of all energy.
The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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