Trade turnover between China and Turkmenistan for the first seven months of this year increased by 53.4%. This figure was cited in a China Daily article citing data from China's General Administration of Customs in a September 12 publication titled "China strengthens ties with Central Asian countries."

Cooperation within the framework of the One Belt, One Road project between China and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan by the countries of Central Asia has yielded first results. The countries of the region have received new investments, technologies and markets, as well as improved the level of their infrastructure, especially transport and logistics, writes the publication, which refers to experts.

According to analysts, the One Belt, One Road project has contributed to the growth of exports of the Central Asian countries, balanced the growth of their industry and opened up opportunities for their industrial modernization and the development of a green and digital economy.

The Silk Road Economic Belt was first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Kazakhstan in 2013, and the five countries of Central Asia were among the first countries to take part in this initiative.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five countries, with trade between the two sides rising from $460 million in 1992 to $50 billion last year.

During the PRC-CA virtual summit in January marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Xi Jinping outlined a vision for trade between China and the five countries to reach $70 billion by 2030, saying that Beijing was ready to import more high-quality goods from the five countries and step up cooperation in the field of energy and high technologies.

Central Asia is a key gateway on the western China-Europe freight train route. As of July, this transport corridor, which was launched in 2011, has carried over 57,000 train trips and shipped 5.3 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent) of goods worth nearly $300 billion. The launch of China-Europe freight trains has reduced the time for transporting goods between Kazakhstan and Europe by five times, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

During the January summit, Xi Jinping said China would provide $500 million in aid to Central Asian countries to support development programs and offer 5,000 seats in seminars and workshops to help the region train specialists in areas such as health, agricultural development and Information Technology.

The publication notes that China's booming economic ties with Central Asia have spawned hundreds of freight forwarding companies in Xinjiang.

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