China-Kazakhstan to share migration data, closing route for some, including from Xinjiang, keen to bypass Beijing

Name: State-backed tourism booms in Xinjiang cities ringed by camps
Uploaded: 2023-10-14T04:00:23.000Z
Duration: 3 min 28 s
Description: State-backed tourism booms in Xinjiang cities ringed by camps

Kazakhstan bill comes after years of efforts by Astana to crack down on dual citizenship and leads up to visa-free regime with China

Some communities fear Chinese authorities penalising them when they find citizens seek a Kazakhstan passport, says analyst

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

China and Kazakhstan share citizens’ entry and exit records, and whether a person had terminated their citizenship in one country when they became a citizen of another, according to the draft of a new Kazakhstan agreement. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Zhao ZiwenandVictoria Bela

Published: 12:00pm, 14 Oct 2023Updated: 2:43pm, 14 Oct 2023

A recently passed Kazakh bill to share immigration information with Beijing will effectively close an immigration pathway for some Chinese nationals, including people from Xinjiang, to relocate to Kazakhstan, analysts say.

The bill comes after years of efforts by Astana to crack down on dual citizenship, and will be the last legal step before a visa-free regime between the two nations comes into effect. Dual citizenship is illegal in both China and Kazakhstan.

The law, which ratifies an agreement originally signed in May during a visit by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to China, was passed in the Senate last week. It was passed in the lower house in September, and awaits the president’s signature.

The agreement authorises China and Kazakhstan to exchange information on citizens – including their name, date and place of birth, photograph, identification issuing authority and citizenship status – according to the agreement posted online for comment in early May.

03:28

State-backed tourism booms in Xinjiang cities ringed by camps

The two countries will also share citizens’ entry and exit records, and whether a person had terminated their citizenship in one country when they became a citizen of another, according to the draft agreement.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x