According to China’s customs statistics, in January-February 2024, Kyrgyzstan imported cars from China worth $510.3 million. Rising from 43rd place in 2023, Kyrgyzstan was ranked the world’s 6th largest buyer of Chinese cars at the beginning of this year.
Only 5 countries exceeded Kyrgyzstan’s expenditure on Chinese cars in the same period: Russia, $1.5 billion; Belgium, $1.1 billion; UK, $1 billion; Mexico, $660 million; and Brazil, $590 million.
As reported by Kyrgyzstan’s National Statistics Committee, in 2023 Kyrgyzstan imported 79,131 cars worth around $1.2 billion from China, an almost 45-fold increase compared to the 1,773 cars imported in 2022.
One of the key reasons for the recent steep rise in Kyrgyzstan’s importation of Chinese cars is the war in Ukraine. As a result of Western sanctions, China has fast become Russia’s main supplier of new cars, a large percentage of which are re-exported to the country by Central Asia, especially Kyrgyzstan.
