The Connotation and Path of Building a China-Central Asia Community of Shared Future

In January 2022， President Xi Jinping proposed building a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future at the virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the founding of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries. In May 2023， President Xi Jinping attended the China-Central Asia Summit and delivered a keynote speech， pointing out that in building a China-Central Asia community with a shared future， all parties need to stay committed to four principles， namely， “mutual assistance， common development， universal security and everlasting friendship.” The above ideas and measures are not only of milestone significance in promoting the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries， but also a demonstration for building a new type of international relations in theory and practice.

Historical Evolution： From Strategic Partnership to Community of Shared Future

With the fundamental changes in the international landscape and the prolonged crisis in Ukraine， Central Asian countries are facing the realistic pressure of a worsening external environment. The leaders of China and Central Asian countries have assessed the situation， actively responded to various severe challenges， strengthened bilateral and multilateral interactions， promoted development through cooperation and jointly maintained regional peace. On the basis of high-level political relations， China and Central Asian countries have comprehensively upgraded their strategic partnership and committed themselves to regional stability and common prosperity.

In January 1992， China formally established diplomatic relations with the five Central Asian countries. At that time， China’s focus of the development of relations with Central Asian countries was to establish political mutual trust and steadily build a new type of good-neighborly and friendly relations. As an important direction of China’s neighborhood diplomacy， Central Asia occupies a very important position in China’s overall diplomacy. In many high-level visits， Chinese leaders have clearly explained the basic policy towards Central Asia， emphasizing the development of equal and mutually beneficial cooperative relations with Central Asian countries by valuing the history as a bond， reviving the “Silk Road”， and expanding transportation and trade exchanges.

Through the joint efforts of both sides， the political relations between China and Central Asian countries have been steadily improved. Firstly， guided by the head-of-state diplomacy， both sides have continuously strengthened the exchanges of various departments in a wide range of fields and at multiple levels， and established a stable intergovernmental cooperation mechanism. Secondly， after many rounds of consultations and negotiations， China has successively resolved the border issues left over from history with Kazakhstan， Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan， and created a “new border of peace and friendship”. Thirdly， a series of important legal documents have been signed. China has successively signed treaties of good-neighborliness， friendship and cooperation with Kazakhstan， Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan， and a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Uzbekistan， emphasizing mutual respect for the development path chosen by each country according to its national conditions， and ensuring the long-term and stable development of bilateral relations. Finally， all parties support each other in regional and international affairs， and the two sides actively cooperate within multilateral frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

China and Kazakhstan took the lead in establishing a strategic partnership in July 2005， which developed into a comprehensive strategic partnership in June 2011. In June 2012， China and Uzbekistan established a strategic partnership. In 2013， China announced the establishment of a strategic partnership successively with Tajikistan， Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. After that， China established comprehensive strategic partnerships with Uzbekistan （June 2016）， Tajikistan （August 2017）， Kyrgyzstan （June 2018） and Turkmenistan （January 2023）. In September 2019， China and Kazakhstan decided to develop a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership; in May 2023， China and Kyrgyzstan established a comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era; in January 2024， China and Uzbekistan announced the establishment of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era; in early July 2024， China and Tajikistan decided to develop a comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.

China and Central Asian countries have also actively promoted the building of a community of shared future bilaterally， which soon covered all of the regional countries. At the virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the founding of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries， President Xi Jinping emphasized that the key to the successful cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries over the past three decades lies in our abiding commitment to mutual respect， good-neighborly friendship， solidarity in trying times， and mutual benefit. These principles are a valuable experience and shared asset China and Central Asian countries have gained from cooperation， a political guarantee for a steady and sustained growth of China’s relations with Central Asian countries， and a source of inspiration to further advance friendly exchanges and to jointly build a community of shared future.

In September 2022， when visiting Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan， President Xi Jinping proposed to practice the concepts of a community with a shared future at the bilateral level to add new impetus to good-neighborly cooperation. In May 2023， President Xi Jinping met with the presidents of Tajikistan， Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan respectively and stressed that in face of the new circumstances， China is willing to work with Tajikistan to comprehensively improve the level of cooperation in all fields and promote the building of a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship， solidarity， and mutual benefit; and build a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future featuring good-neighborliness， friendship and shared prosperity with Kyrgyzstan， carry out all-round cooperation and assist the development and revitalization of the two countries; practice a community with a shared future at the bilateral level with Turkmenistan and open a new chapter in the development of China-Turkmenistan relations. These principles are the valuable experience and common wealth accumulated through cooperation. They are the political guarantee for the steady and long-term development of China’s relations with Central Asian countries， and the source of strength for China to carry forward friendly exchanges with Central Asian countries and jointly build a community with a shared future.

As an innovative concept in international relations theory， the community of shared future has the following connotations. First， shared values. Participants enjoy a high degree of political mutual trust， support for each other’s core interests， and respect for each other’s cultural traditions and choices of political systems. Second， full-spectrum cooperation. Based on equality and mutual benefit， all-round and wide-ranging cooperation covering all areas from economy to security， culture， ecology and international affairs is truly carried out. Third， shared ideas on governance. Consultation， joint construction and sharing are upheld so that partners can resolve differences through dialogue， fully realize complementary advantages， form commonly recognized rules and systems， and ensure that the fruits of cooperation can be shared with. Finally， well development outlook. It is necessary to be open and inclusive， overcome difficulties together， eliminate various imbalances and artificial obstacles， and truly achieve coordinated development， green development， and sustainable development. China and Central Asian countries have the basic characteristics for building a community of shared destiny， which can continuously stimulate stronger development momentum.

Clearer Goal： A Direction of All-round Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Between China and Central Asian Countries

The key to building a community with a shared future lies in consolidating the foundation for cooperation among countries. Whether at the bilateral or multilateral level， the two major areas of trade and culture constitute the material basis and public opinion basis for exchanges and cooperation respectively， and are of great significance to building a community with a shared future.

First， the momentum of economic and trade cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is strong. In 2012， the import and export volume between China and the five Central Asian countries was close to 50 billion US dollars， a 100-fold increase from 1992. China’s investment， including various preferential loans， exceeded 40 billion US dollars in total， providing financial support for Central Asian countries to improve infrastructure， and increasing investment in energy， transportation， chemical industry and other fields in Central Asian countries. With the deepening of economic and trade cooperation， China and Central Asian countries have held consultations on issues such as balancing trade deficits， increasing the proportion of non-resource products in exports to China， and improving the level of trade and investment facilitation， in order to further optimize the trade structure.

It is worth noting that in recent years， the unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction” of the United States and the West have interfered with normal international economic and trade exchanges， but have not affected the momentum of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. The bilateral trade volumes between China and Central Asian countries exceeded US$70 billion in 2022 and reached a record high of US$89.4 billion in 2023. By 2024， China has become the largest trading partner of almost all Central Asian countries， and has begun to further upgrade and expand cooperation in the fields of digital economy， green energy， and scientific and technological innovation. The “Joint Initiative on High-Quality and Sustainable Development of China-Central Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation” released in 2022 puts forward more ambitious goals.

Second， the cultural cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is flourishing. China and Central Asian countries have long historical and cultural ties. After independence， Central Asian countries attach great importance to cultural exchanges with China. They have carried out exchanges and cooperation in various fields such as education， culture， science and technology， health， environmental protection， sports， etc.， established sister provinces， states and cities relationships， and launched a series of “Cultural and Art Year” activities. With Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia providing visa convenience policies for Chinese tourists， China-Kazakhstan and China-Uzbekistan tourism cooperation is developing rapidly.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries， China proposed to hold the China-Central Asia Non-governmental Friendship Forum and increased the number of pairs of sister-cities between China and the five Central Asian countries to 100. China also plans to provide 1，200 Chinese government scholarships to the five Central Asian countries， and gave priority to the establishment of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Central Asia. China is preparing to provide US$500 million in grants to Central Asian countries to help them implement projects to improve people’s livelihood. It is also to provide 5，000 training and seminar opportunities to help Central Asian countries cultivate professional personnel in various fields such as health， poverty alleviation， agriculture， connectivity， and information technology， and build a culture and people-to-people community of mutual learning， equality and inclusiveness.

Third， the mutually beneficial cooperation mechanism between China and Central Asian countries has been continuously improved. In recent years， China has actively built platforms to expand exchanges between cities and enterprises on both sides and promote economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. For example， the China-Central Asia Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum， the first “China + Five Central Asian Countries” Industry and Investment Cooperation Forum， and the China-Central Asia Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum have been held successively. The China-Central Asia Cooperation Forum hosted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Good-Neighborly Friendship and Cooperation Committee has been held for 10 sessions. On September 27， 2022， the China-Central Asia Non-governmental Friendship Forum was held in Xi’an with the theme of “Continue traditional friendship and deepen people-to-people cooperation”.

Bilateral cooperation between China and Central Asian countries has developed rapidly， but there are also problems of imbalance and instability vulnerable to changes in the internal and external environment. It needs to be improved in the following aspects. First， economic cooperation should pay more attention to benefiting people’s livelihood， and the selection of fields should be as consistent as possible with the needs of improving people’s living standards and increasing employment. Second， investment companies should conduct in-depth research and strictly abide by local laws and respect local customs and conventions. Third， companies should take the initiative to assume social responsibilities and provide more support for local public welfare undertakings. Fourth， strengthened cooperation should be carried out in traditional medicine， ecological governance， youth training and other aspects to enhance the friendship between the two peoples.

Pooled Efforts： China and Central Asian Countries Jointly Respond to New Challenges in the Security Field

The security situation in Central Asia is very complex， with many factors of instability and uncertainty. The deterioration of the external environment further ferments internal conflicts. Under the new situation， energy， food and ecological environment crises are spreading globally， and Central Asia has become a hard-hit area， where the crises are often transnational， comprehensive and entangled. China and Central Asian countries are cooperating more and more extensively in the field of security， and bilateral strategic interactions are becoming more frequent.

The security situation in Central Asia has its own particularities. First， most security challenges are transnational and regional in nature. Central Asian countries are landlocked and have relatively close ties with neighboring countries. Second， the regional security landscape is in flux and has a pluralistic character， with multilateral security mechanisms basically dominated by major powers. Third， external security threats are intertwined with internal ones， the former outweighing the latter. Social divisions together with ethnic and religious issues may trigger unrest. Fourth， non-traditional security threats add to traditional security threats. The “Three Evil Forces”， namely， terrorism， separatism and extremism， as well as transnational crimes such as drug smuggling， have seriously undermined regional stability.

The security cooperation between China and Central Asian countries has a solid foundation and remarkable results. China and Central Asian countries are interdependent and have common interests in security， forming a good foundation for cooperation. Firstly， by strengthening security policy coordination and dialogue， and reaching important consensus on regional and even global security issues， China and Central Asian countries have clarified the direction for bilateral security cooperation. Secondly， with cooperation documents signed， legal basis for security cooperation is in place. For example， all parties have signed the Shanghai Convention， the Anti-Terrorism Convention， and the Anti-Extremism Convention within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to combat the “Three Evil Forces”. Thirdly， by holding strategic consultations within multilateral and bilateral frameworks， conducting joint military exercises， law enforcement cooperation and training， relevant countries have enhanced their defense capabilities so that all parties can jointly respond to regional security challenges.

Through bilateral and multilateral security cooperation and close exchanges of military and law enforcement personnel， China and Central Asian countries have not only enhanced military mutual trust， but also established a stable mechanisms for cooperation and consultation to jointly maintain regional peace and stability. China and Central Asian countries have strengthened security interaction within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization， and have achieved many substantial results from combating the “Three Evil Forces” and transnational organized crime to advancing the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan.

At the same time， under the new situation， China and Central Asian countries face multiple challenges in their security cooperation. After the outbreak of the Ukraine Crisis， the geopolitical game among the major countries has made the security pattern in Central Asia more complicated. The United States and its allies have tried to create bloc confrontation to suppress and isolate their strategic competitors. Politically pressured by Western countries， especially faced with “color revolutions” incited by the West， Central Asian countries commonly have the arduous task of maintaining political security， social security， and cyberspace information security. In order to make up for the shortcomings in political and social governance， Central Asian countries have attached more importance to carrying out all-round and multi-field practical cooperation with China. In particular， in terms of strengthening security cooperation， Central Asian countries have clearly supported the Global Security Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping and agreed with the vision of common， comprehensive， cooperative and sustainable security proposed by China. The two sides are ready to further strengthen coordination on global and regional peace and security cooperation， expand cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations， the Shanghai Cooperation Organization， the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia， the Asia-Europe Meeting， and the China + five Central Asian countries head-of-state meeting mechanism. China supports the various security initiatives proposed by Central Asian countries at the United Nations and jointly promotes global biosecurity governance.

New Prospect： China-Central Asia Community with a Shared Future Pushed Forward by Pooled Efforts to Carry out the Belt and Road Initiative

Central Asian countries are not only where the Belt and Road Initiative was first announced， but also the first countries to sign the cooperation documents on the joint construction of the Belt and Road and carry out in-depth connectivity cooperation with China. Many landmark results have been achieved. Central Asian countries are both active participants and direct beneficiaries of the Belt and Road Initiative. The joint construction of the Belt and Road has provided a new development opportunity for the relationship between China and Central Asian countries， and sets the construction of a community with a shared future for the region.

First， both sides attach great importance to the docking of development strategies. Central Asian countries have all put forward their own medium- and long-term development strategies， such as Kazakhstan’s “Bright Road” new economic policy， Kyrgyzstan’s “National Development Program before 2026”， Tajikistan’s “National Development Strategy before 2030”， Turkmenistan’s “Rejuvenation of the Silk Road” strategy， Uzbekistan’s “2022-2026 Development Strategy”， etc. All of them have signed documents with China to carry out cooperation compatible with the Belt and Road Initiative， forming a new pattern of cooperation with full complementarity and high-level win-win results.

Second， the China-Central Asia Economic Corridor will help promote regional economic integration and achieve common development. Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation， China and Central Asian countries have jointly built the New Eurasian Continental Bridge and the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor， and have achieved many early exemplary results. Central Asian countries cooperate with China in passage construction so as to deepen the interconnection of regional transportation infrastructure， which can provide convenient access to the sea. At the same time， the creation of a new economic corridor demonstrates the common willingness of China and Central Asian countries to seek cooperation and promote development. All these reflect that the concept of a community with a shared future has taken root in Central Asia.

Third， high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road opens up new prospects for economic cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. Within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation， in addition to cooperation in traditional fields such as economy， trade， investment， energy， transportation， and agriculture， Central Asian countries have proposed priority cooperation directions and fields that are suitable for their national conditions based on their own development levels and demands. For example， Kazakhstan and Tajikistan hope to expand cooperation in artificial intelligence， digital finance， cross-border e-commerce， green energy， and green infrastructure; Uzbekistan focuses on learning from China’s experience in poverty reduction， while strengthening cooperation in natural gas and new energy， and that in local level.

Fourth， the cultural connection between China and Central Asian countries is constantly expanding， and the friendship over generations is deeply rooted in the hearts of the peoples. As the Belt and Road cooperation has entered a new stage of intensive and high-quality development， President Xi Jinping proposed new cooperation directions such as the Green Silk Road， Health Silk Road， Intellectual Silk Road and Peace Silk Road in his speech at the Uzbek Parliament in 2016， advocating the continuous construction of a diversified and interactive cultural exchange pattern， the joint implementation of cultural cooperation projects， and the commitment to cultivating more professional talents.

Conclusion

China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors. Working together to create a new model of cooperation and build a community with a shared future for regional countries is a long-term task for the all-round development of strategic partnerships between them， which takes long-lasting， high-quality and pragmatic cooperation of all parties. The construction of a community with a shared future for China and Central Asian countries has its own internal logic and development momentum. It is not only a continuation of historical and cultural ties and traditional friendship， but an expansion of substantial cooperation in all aspects. It will help China and Central Asian countries to continuously build more consensus and form greater synergy.

Building a China-Central Asia community with a shared future will become the overall goal and ultimate pursuit of cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. It will be promoted simultaneously in various fields such as politics， economy， security， culture and people-to-people exchanges， and by fully mobilizing the enthusiasm and initiative of all parties， and achieving extensive interaction at multiple levels， in multiple fields， and among multiple subjects. From cooperation mechanisms to interactive platforms and then to partnership networks， the construction of a China-Central Asia community with a shared future has followed the strategic guidance of head-of-state diplomacy and continuously consolidated and deepened good-neighborly friendship， which is of great significance to maintaining regional peace and stability as well as promoting common development.

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Sun Zhuangzhi is Director and Researcher of the Institute of Russian of East European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences