China looks to central Asia as the West sees threat to US-led world order

Name: China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia
Uploaded: 2023-05-19T15:40:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 58 s
Description: China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia

Chinese president calls for expanded trade and energy ties with the region, offering development aid and investment

China’s commitment to central Asia will be hard for Western nations to match, analyst says

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (third from right) underscored the historical and practical links between China and central Asian states during the summit in Xian. Photo: Xinhua

Dewey Simin Singapore

Published: 11:40pm, 19 May 2023Updated: 2:31am, 20 May 2023

China sought to forge closer economic and security ties with its Central Asian neighbours on Friday as the US and its allies met next door to build a common strategy to curb Beijing’s challenge to the Washington-led world order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the northwestern city of Xian.

The two-day summit, which analysts said signalled a battle of influence between China and the US-led West, overlapped with the Group of Seven summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

As part of his flurry of diplomacy this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to travel to Hiroshima this weekend to meet G7 leaders in person to discuss the war with Russia.

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China announces US$3.8 billion Belt and Road expansion in Central Asia

China has also been touted as a potential peacemaker in the Ukraine crisis, with special envoy Li Hui touring Europe and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin scheduled to meet Xi in Beijing next week.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV hailed the Xian summit as a success, saying it ushered in “a bright future of China-Central Asia relations”.