China will for the first time host an in-person summit of central Asian leaders this week, seeking to cement ties in a region seen as Russia's backyard as its relations with the West sour.
President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss deepening economic and security links with counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, former soviet states that analysts say are eager for alternative sources of investment with Moscow's focus fixed on its war in Ukraine.
"One of the biggest trump cards that we expect to see at this summit is a serious opening for Central Asian products to enter the Chinese market. This is something that the region has been asking for a couple of years now," said Niva Yau, a Kyrgyzstan-based fellow of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
The two main BRI projects currently in discussion are a railway connecting China to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. "They understand that it’s very important to have alternative partners to Russia, and the number one alternative you have is China," said Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre based in Berlin.
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