Kazakhstan and China are moving to establish a specialized investment fund to finance new projects in Kazakhstan. An agreement on the basic terms of the fund was signed by national investment promotion company Kazakh Invest and Silk Road Finance Corporation on September 25 at the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum in Almaty. The fund is expected to operate through the Astana International Financial Centre.
The forum brought together more than 600 representatives of businesses, government agencies, and development institutions. It began with a minute of silence in memory of 14 Kazakh servicemen who were killed the previous day during military exercises on the Caspian Sea.
China is Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner. Chinese customs data cited by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry put bilateral trade at $48.7 billion in 2025, although Kazakhstan’s own customs data recorded $34.1 billion. Kazakh Invest said Chinese direct investment in Kazakhstan reached a record $2.8 billion last year. The two countries have set a longer-term target of increasing bilateral trade to $100 billion.
Government figures released for the forum put Kazakhstan’s industrial cooperation portfolio with China at 260 major projects worth more than $62 billion.
Transport projects include the Mointy-Kyzylzhar and Bakhty-Ayagoz railway lines, which are nearing completion. Kazakhstan is also working with Minmetals Logistics on a logistics corridor incorporating autonomous transportation technologies and digital systems.
Other projects presented around the forum include plans by China’s UBTECH to build its first humanoid robot manufacturing plant outside China in Almaty, and plans to localize the production of oncology drugs with BeOne and INKAR. Transport and logistics projects include the development of Kuryk Port and a smart logistics park in the Khorgos-Eastern Gate Special Economic Zone.
The Times of Central Asia previously reported that Kazakhstan’s technology cooperation with Beijing is expanding alongside its participation in U.S.-backed initiatives involving AI and technology supply chains.
Forum organizers said beforehand that around 45 commercial documents were expected to be exchanged. Ten agreements highlighted at the event covered projects including an electrolytic aluminum plant and associated wind power facility in Abai Region, wind farms with a combined capacity of 450 MW in Akmola Region, automobile manufacturing, urea fertilizer production, and preparations for a dim sum bond issue by the Almaty city administration on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
