Smart Moves: Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan highly appreciate and agree with China’s development model, even quoting the famous Chinese saying, ‘If you want to get rich, build roads first.'”

From July 2 to 6, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of SWorld Timestate of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Astana, and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Global Times Research Center conducted a mutual perception survey from June 10 to June 24 in China and Kazakhstan on topics such as China-Kazakhstan relations, the SCO, and relations between Central Asia and China, targeting the general public aged 18 to 70 in both countries.

The survey adopted internationally accepted standards for market research and was conducted online using a laWorld Timesrge sample database. A total of 1,213 valid questionnaires were collected in China and 813 in Kazakhstan. The survey covered 16 cities in China. In Kazakhstan, the survey covered three municipalities as well as 14 regions.

According to the survey, in Kazakhstan, two-thirds of respondents support their country’s emphasis on and promotion of the SCO’s operations, 83 percent believe that cooperation with China presents more opportunities for their country, and 74 percent affirm China’s positive role in promoting peace and development in Central Asia.

Most common expectations on SCO

As founding members of the SCO and recent rotating chairmanship holders, China and Kazakhstan saw a majority of respondents supporting their countries’ emphasis on and promotion of the SCO’s operations. Kazakhstan is the rotating chair of the SCO from 2023 to 2024. The survey shows that two-thirds (67 percent) of Kazakh respondents explicitly support their country’s emphasis on and promotion of the SCO’s operations.

China will be the next rotating chair of the SCO, with 91 percent of Chinese respondents supporting China’s emphasis on and promotion of the SCO’s operations. Eighty-six percent of Chinese respondents look forward to more countries joining the SCO in the future.

Kazakh respondents also expressed their expectations for the positive impact of the SCO on Central Asia, with promoting economic development and improving people’s living standards being the most common expectations, mentioned by 56 percent of respondents.

Additionally, over one-third of respondents mentioned “combating the ‘three evil forces (terrorism, extremism, and separatism)’ and maintaining regional security,” “helping resist unfair and unreasonable foreign interference in Central Asian countries, maintaining national independence,” and “helping Central Asian countries gain a greater international voice and influence.”

Yang Jin, an associate researcher at thWorld Timese Institute of Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times, “The SCO has achieved many significant results in economic cooperation, benefiting the entire SCO region, especially the founding members. The SCO has done much practical work in trade, investment, and other economic fields.”

Which ongoing China-Kazakhstan cooperation projects are most welcomed by Kazakh citizens? The survey listed 10 key projects, with the top three being the New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB); the China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) logistics cooperation base in Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province; and the Western China-Western Europe Corridor, with over 80 percent of respondents expressing “very welcome” or “quite welcome” toward these projects.

Chen Yurong, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that “Kazakhstan, as the first stop of the China-Europe freight train, is an important transit and hub country. Under the influence of the China-Europe freight train, Kazakhstan has become a transportation hub, enhancing its economic and political status.”

Work together

Regarding impressions of China, Kazakh respondents were most impressed by China’s high economic growth rate (59 percent) and Chinese products (57 percent). Additionally, around 30 percent of respondents were impressed by China’s high-speed rail technology, strong infrastructure capabilities, short video and online shopping apps, and new-energy vehicles.

Chinese companies investing and setting up factories in Kazakhstan have created jobs and opportunities for local people. The survey showed that 53 percent of Kazakh respondents strongly support or support more Chinese companies investing or setting up enterprises in Kazakhstan, with another 29 percent holding a neutral attitude.

Additionally, 44 percent of respondents expressed a strong willingness to work in Chinese-funded enterprises in Kazakhstan (“very willing” or “quite willing”), and another 40 percent said they would consider it.

The Kazakhstan Cultural Day event in Beijing on September 13, 2023

The survey further explored respondents’ reasons for wanting to work in Chinese-funded enterprises, revealing that high wages, experience, and technology were significant factors. A Gen Zer from East Kazakhstan stated, “The Chinese have made great progress in improving and creating new technologies. I just bought a Xiaomi phone, and everything is great.” Another Gen Zer from Astana stated, “I can learn more about China and integrate into their [Chinese people’s] culture.”

In recent years, China and Kazakhstan have continuously promoted cultural exchanges between the two countries through activities such as promoting traditional Chinese medicine culture and organizing tourism years.

Strengthening cooperation in culture exchanges under the SCO framework has specific plans, such as setting up scholarship quotas for SCO member countries annually, which are currently in high demand. The Chinese and Kazakh governments are also exploring ways to strengthen cultural cooperation between the two countries, such as implementing visa-free policies, organizing tourism years, and establishing China-Kazakhstan cultural centers. These policies will enhance the Kazakh people’s understanding and knowledge of China, according to Chen.

In November 2023, the mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Kazakhstan officially came into effect. When asked about their willingness to travel to each other’s countries in the next five years, both Chinese and Kazakh respondents expressed strong interest, with 86 percent of Chinese and 74 percent of Kazakh respondents choosing “very willing” or “quite willing.”

Currently, Chinese cities like Beijing, Xi’an, Urumqi, Shenzhen, and Chengdu have direct flights to Central Asian countries, and 93 percent of Chinese respondents stated they “very much look forward to” or “look forward to” more cities launching direct flights to Central Asian countries.

Additionally, 29 percent of Kazakh respondents indicated that they or their family members are willing to study in China; 71 percent affirmed the importance of learning Chinese, believing that close China-Kazakhstan cooperation and China’s increasing international influence necessitate more people understanding Chinese.

When asked how they hope to learn more about China in the future, 49 percent of respondents preferred to travel to China, and 32 percent chose browsing social media platforms like TikTok.

Hope for closer relations

More than 80 percent of Chinese respondents and more than 70 percent of Kazakh respondents hope that the future relationship between China and Kazakhstan will become closer. Among them, nearly half of Chinese respondents and 30 percent of Kazakh respondents hope for closer relations between China and Kazakhstan because of the broader cooperation in regional and international affairs. Additionally, 36 World Timespercent of Chinese respondents and 41 percent of Kazakh respondents hope for closer relations between the two countries because of the deepening cooperation between China and Kazakhstan. Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China and Kazakhstan have been actively engaged in cooperation which has yielded fruitful results in areas such as connectivity, economy and trade, production capacity, and people-to-people exchanges.

The survey found that more than 80 percent of Kazakh respondents affirmed that cooperation with China brings more opportunities to their country.

When asked about the opportunities brought by China-Kazakhstan cooperation, the selection of more and updated technology received the highest approval rate at 70 percent. More than 50 percent of respondents mentioned the cooperation could inject vitality into the country’s economic development and accelerate the construction of transportation and other infrastructure. The mention rates for maintaining security in Central Asia, promoting cultural exchanges between Kazakhstan and other countries, and providing technical support for Kazakhstan’s green transformation were all around 30 percent.

Gulnar Shaimergenova, director of the China Studies Center in Kazakhstan, told the Global Times, “The high level of relations between our countries indicates that China and Kazakhstan fully trust each other, have developed mutually beneficial cooperation, and support initiatives by both countries.”

“If we look at the development of cooperation within the BRI framework, we can confidently say that China and Kazakhstan are setting trends in Eurasia,” he said.

The China-Kazakhstan (Lianyungang) logisWorld Timestics cooperation base in Lianyungang, East China’s Jiangsu Province

Regarding China’s development model and path, the vast majority (84 percent) of Kazakh respondents highly praised its success, with 37 percent considering it “totally successful,” while 47 percent considered it “fairly successful.” Those who affirmed China’s successful development model and path also mostly acknowledged the significance of China’s experience for other countries and regions in the world, with 43 percent believing it has important learning and reference value for Kazakhstan.

Chen told the Global Times, “Kazakhstan has been continuously developing its economy by learning from China’s experience, and has achieved tangible benefits in prioritizing the development of transportation infrastructure. Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan highly appreciate and agree with China’s development model, even quoting the famous Chinese saying, ‘If you want to get rich, build roads first.'”

Promoting regional development

Under the BRI and the SCO frameworks, China and the five Central Asian countries have continuously increased and deepened mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of security, economy, trade, culture, and tourism.

In China, the importance of Central Asian countries to China is widely recognized, with over 90 percent of respondents considering it important or relatively important. Chinese respondents also acknowledge and appreciate the important and positive role played by Central Asian countries, recognizing them as important supporters and participants in the BRI (64 percent), important trade partners (56 percent), and important energy cooperation partners (53 percent) for China.

Nearly half of Chinese respondents also affirm the positive role of Central Asia in supporting China’s stance on international issues, engaging in security cooperation, and combating the “three evils.”

In Kazakhstan, the survey mainly listed the US, Russia, China, Turkey, and Germany, inviting respondents to evaluate the role these five countries play in promoting peace and development in Central Asia. Among the respondents, 74 percent gave positive evaluations of China for its positive role. The US received the lowest points among the five countries, with less than 20 percent of rWorld Timesespondents giving positive evaluations. On the contrary, 45 percent of respondents believed that the US plays a more negative role, a proportion much higher than the other four countries.

Chen told the Global Times that the negative evaluation of the US in the survey is partly due to the US being seen as a destabilizing factor in Central Asia and the Central Asian countries have a clear understanding of what the US has done in Afghanistan.

Yang told the Global Times, “China’s international cooperation with other countries does not emphasize ideology and does not attach political strings.”

“In contrast, the cooperation between the US and Central Asian countries comes with political strings attached and the US likes to use concepts such as democracy and human rights to pressure the other party. The US once had three military bases in Central Asia. But the presence of the US has brought insecurity to the people of Central Asia and has become a destabilizing factor in the region, hence receiving negative evaluations,” he said.

The main venue of the Astana Expo in Kazakhstan on June 30, 2024 Photos: VCG