China to invest $1 billion in Kazakhstan's agriculture

Agricultural producers of Kazakhstan signed agreements with ten Chinese companies for $1 billion, according to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Agriculture.

The ministry said that the talks were held in Beijing. The Kazakh delegation was headed by the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Aidarbek Saparov, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Chinese investors are considered one of the potentially attractive areas of production of organic products. The Chinese market is of particular interest for grain and flour exports.

“Last year the volume of grain supplies to China increased 5.5 times and reached 1.4 million tonnes,” the message stated.

The Ministry of Agriculture drew attention to the fact that the largest share of Kazakhstan's exports of agricultural products to China is accounted for grains and oilseeds, as well as vegetable oils.

According to Kazakh Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparbayev, agriculture remains the key component of Kazakhstan-China relations, which is proved by the positive dynamics of farm product sales. The turnover of agro-industrial products in 2013 between Kazakhstan and China grew by 1.7 times surpassing 1.3 billion tenge proving mutual interest in the industry’s development. From January through September 2024, agro-industrial complex turnover between the two countries rose by 5.6% to reach $941 billion, the minister said.

According to China's statistics, From January through October 2024, the total trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China made $36.5 billion.

Earlier, Kazakh Transport Minister Marat Karabayev announced the increase in container transportation from China by 25 times. He noted that the construction of a container hub began in the Aktau port while the construction of a Kazakhstani terminal in the European part of the corridor is being worked on.

By Khagan Isayev