"Obviously, the land component of the Belt and Road is unthinkable without Kazakhstan and other countries in the region, which act as a link between China and Europe and the Middle East. The volume of Chinese investment and bilateral trade has been growing steadily. In 2018, the volume of accumulated Chinese direct investment in five countries in the region reached $15 billion. Last year, the total trade turnover of Central Asia with China exceeded $33 billion. The states have mutual interest in the trade, economic and investment cooperation, so I do not think that the arguments about "Chinese expansion" correspond to the real situation," said Tokayev.
He pointed out that the people of Central Asia, China and Russia have been actively trading with each other for centuries; they have spiritual knowledge, "so the Great Silk Road has become a historical symbol of the region."
"The geostrategic location and the great potential of Central Asia attract the attention of the world community, and, of course, China. With the Belt and Road initiative, we have managed to launch interesting projects in Central Asia. Many of them were implemented with the help of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund," he said.
Photo source: picture from an open source