May31,2018:China-KazakhstanLianyungangInternationalLogisticsCooperationBase.AsthefirstphysicalprojectofinternationaleconomicandtradecooperationwithintheBeltandRoadInitiative,thebasehasbeenopenforfouryearsandhasbecomeaninternationalplatformfortransportation,logisticsandtradeexchangebetweenChinaandthefiveCentralAsiancountries.ICRecently,thecooperationbetweenChinaandCentralAsiancountriesundertheframeworkoftheBeltandRoadInitiativehasarousedsomecontroversies.ThisarticletouchesupontheintentionandaimofthecooperationbetweenChinaandCentralAsiancountries.
PromotingEconomicDevelopment
AccordingtotheWorldBank,ofitssurveyed185countriesChinaandthefiveCentralAsiancountrieshaveacomparativelylowGDPpercapitaatthecurrentexchangerate.In2017,theaverageGDPpercapitaintheworldwasUS$10,715,whileKazakhstanandChinaonlyreachedUS$8,838andUS$8,827,ranking71thand72threspectivelyandnearlyequatingto82percentoftheworldaverage.AndTurkmenistan,Uzbekistan,KyrgyzstanandTajikistantookthe80th,150th,154thand164thplaceswith7,356,1,504,1,220and801U.S.dollarsofGDPpercapita,respectively.So,ChinaandallthefiveCentralAsiancountrieshavenotarrivedattheworldaveragelevelintermsofGDPpercapita.
ThismeansthatChinaandthefivecountriesinCentralAsiaarealldevelopingcountries,withKazakhstan,ChinaandTurkmenistanbeingmiddle-incomecountriesandtheotherthreebeinglow-incomeeconomies.So,theprimarytaskofthesesixnationsistopromoteeconomicdevelopment,increasepublicincomeandimprovethelivelihoodoftheirpeopleinashorttime.
Historically,Chinahadlongbeenthecountrywiththelargesteconomicaggregate,whilethefiveCentralAsiancountriesalsohadasplendidpast.So,bothChinaandthefiveCentralAsiannationslongfornationalrevivalalthoughtheireconomicgrowthisrestrictedbycurrentsituationsforthetimebeing.
Atpresent,theeconomicdevelopmentoftheCentralAsiancountriesisprimarilylimitedbytransportationandcommunicationinfrastructure.Intermsofhighroadandrailway,KazakhstanandUzbekistanenjoycomparativelybetterconditions,whiletheotherthreecountrieslagfarbehind.Withregardtointernetusage,UzbekistanandKyrgyzstanhaveonly30percentofinternetcitizens.Moreover,thesecountriesdonothaveadvancedmanufacturingindustries.AlthoughUzbekistan鈥檚jointventuresproducecarsandbusesandKazakhstanandUzbekistanmakesomechemicalandmedicalproducts,theeconomicdevelopmentinCentralAsiastillreliesonexportingprimarycommodities(accountingfor70percentoftheirexports)andimportingfinishedgoods(over70percentoftheirimports).
AsforChina,itlacksthesupplyofimportantresourcesincludingcrudeoil,naturalgas,ironoreandsoybean.In2017,Chinaimported420milliontonsofcrudeoil,accountingfor68.9percentofitstotaldemand,whileimporting83.8billioncubicmetersofnaturalgas,occupying35.3percentoftheyear鈥檚totalconsumption.Thenetimportofsoybeanhit95.42milliontons,takingup86.3percentofitstotalconsumptionof110.59milliontons.November11,2015:WorkerscheckameterstationinKhorgosalongtheCentralAsiannaturalgaspipeline.ItisthefirsttransnationalpipelinetransmittingforeignnaturalgasintoChina.ItstartsinTurkmenistanandpassesthroughUzbekistanandKazakhstanbeforeenteringChinaviaXinjiang鈥檚Khorgos.byChenYehua/Xinhua
May8,2018:Anemployeeoperatesanink-jetprinteratPengshengIndustrialParkjointlybuiltbyChinaandUzbekistan.byZhouLiang/XinhuaWin-winCooperation
IfChinaandCentralAsiastrengthencooperation,bothsidescangreatlyrelievetheirdevelopmentrestrictionsandeveneradicatesomeofthem.
Firstly,withintheBeltandRoadInitiative,ChinaandCentralAsiancountrieshavecompletedsomemajortransportationinfrastructureprojectssuchastheVahdat-YavanRailwayinTajikistan,thefirstChinese-builtrailwayinCentralAsia.Afteronly15monthsofconstruction,therailwaywasputintoserviceonAugust24,2016.ThePapuRailwayTunnel(KamchiqTunnel)inUzbekistan,thefirstChinese-builtrailwaytunnelinCentralAsia,beganoperationinJune2016.
Secondly,toenhancetheenergytradebetweenChinaandCentralAsiancountries,Chinahasbuiltapipelinenetworkincludingnaturalgasandpetroleumpipelines.LineAandLineBoftheChina-CentralAsianaturalgaspipelinespanatotalof10,000kilometers,crossingtheborderbetweenTurkmenistanandUzbekistanandrunningthroughUzbekistanandKazakhstan,andenterChinaviaXinjiang鈥檚AlatawPass.Theirannualgastransmissioncapacityreachesabout30billioncubicmeters,withTurkmenistanastheprimarysourceofnaturalgas.LineCofthegaspipelinetraversestheborderofTurkmenistanandUzbekistanandarrivesinXinjiang鈥檚HorgosPort,withadesignedannualtransmissioncapacityof25billioncubicmeters.Thesethreelineshavebeenputintoservice.Additionally,LineDisbeingconstructed,withadesignedyearlytransmissioncapacityof30billioncubicmeters.ItalsostartsfromtheborderbetweenTurkmenistanandUzbekistanandentersChinaviaXinjiang鈥檚UlugqatCounty.
Asforpetroleumpipelineconstruction,theChina-KazakhstanoilpipelinerunsfromAtyrauinwesternKazakhstantoXinjiang鈥檚AlatawPassofChina,spanning2,800kilometerswithadesignedannualtransmissioncapacityof20milliontons.Currently,theoilpipelineoperateswell.
Thirdly,ChinahasgreatlybeefedupproductioncapacitycooperationwithCentralAsiabysettingupindustrialparksanddevelopingmodernagriculture.Forexample,ChinasetupaChina-KazakhstanProductionCapacityCooperationFundwithUS$2billiontohelpChina鈥檚qualityindustrialcapacitysettleinKazakhstan.AndChinaandUzbekistanjointlyestablishedthePengshengIndustrialPark,whichhasboostedlocalmanufacturing,createdmorethan1,000jobsandadded20percentoftaxrevenue.AChineseprivatecompanyopenedtheAsianStarAgriculturalIndustrialParkinKyrgyzstan,speedingupthedevelopmentofmodernagricultureinCentralAsia.
Finally,bytheendof2016,China鈥檚stockofinvestmentinCentralAsiahadhitUS$9.14billion,ofwhichUS$5.43billionwenttoKazakhstan.ChinahasbecomethesecondlargestforeigninvestorforKazakhstanandthethirdlargestforeigninvestorforTurkmenistan,KyrgyzstanandTajikistan.February27,2016:AceremonycelebratingtheopeningofthePapuRailwayTunnel(KamchiqTunnel)inUzbekistan,thefirstChinese-builtrailwaytunnelinCentralAsia.byShaDati/Xinhua
August7,2017:China鈥檚ZhongdaPetroleumCompany鈥檚facilitiesinKyrgyzstan.byLuoMan/XinhuaSo,ChinaandCentralAsiancountriesareseekingcommondevelopmentthroughwin-wincooperationbycomplementingtheirrespectiveresourcesandeconomicstructures.ThecooperationallowsthefiveCentralAsiancountriestogetthecommoditiestheyneed鈥攐fwhichfourcountries,exceptTurkmenistan,importthelargestamountofcommoditiesfromChina鈥攁ndtheinvestmentwhichcanhelpperfectlocalinfrastructureandboostindustrialdevelopment.Additionally,ChinaisclosetoCentralAsiaandwithimprovingtransportationconditions,transportcostwillbefurtherlowered,whichwillgreatlydrivetheeconomicgrowthofChinaandtheCentralAsiancountriesaswellasadvancethelivingstandardsoflocalpeople.
TheauthorisheadoftheInstituteofBeltandRoadInitiativeatBeijingNormalUniversity.