An article published by Eurasianet and authored by Carly Brant and Sean Kearin highlights growing unease among farmers in Uzbekistan’s Ferghana Valley, where reports of pressure to lease agricultural land to Chinese interests have fueled public concern.

Central Asia

China has an image problem in Central Asia. Regional governments may seem content with Chinese trade and investment practices, but periodic protests across the region tell a different story. The latest flare-up of anti-Chinese sentiment in Central Asia is occurring in Uzbekistan, where farmers in the Ferghana Valley region of Andijan are complaining about being subjected to coercive tactics by local officials to “voluntarily” hand over land plots, which, in turn, are suspected of being re-leased to Chinese entities, according to a report distributed by RFE/RL’s Radio Ozodlik. Uzbek officials deny the claims. Reports started circulating in the spring 2025 about shady land transfers in the Andijan region to Chinese concerns. Farmers interviewed by RFE/RL say they began coming under pressure late last year to give up their leases. Complaints about Chinese business practices are far from limited to Uzbekistan. For example, Tajik gold mine workers staged a protest in January, contending Chinese workers at the site were being paid wages far above local hires. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have also experienced waves of anti-Chinese protests in recent years, The Caspian Post republishes the article.

Kazakhstan

Kazakh authorities have signed a deal with China’s Sichuan YinHe Chemical Co. Ltd to build a $500-million chromium processing plant. The facility in the Aktobe region is projected to have an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons.

Kazakhstan in 2025 broke into the Top 10 largest export markets for Chinese cars, having imported 211,545 Chinese autos, reports Carnewschina.com, citing the China Passenger Car Association.

Air Astana will begin operating regular flights from Almaty to Shanghai starting in March, increasing the total number of weekly flights connecting Kazakhstan and China from 81 to 84. China and Kazakhstan are also discussing launching a flight from Urumqi to Oskemen, according to Ustinka.kz.

One of China’s largest television channels, Hunan TV, will premiere on February 5 the international music project Voice Beyond Horizon, which was filmed in Kazakhstan, according to DKnews.kz. The project was initiated by Kazakhstan’s international star Dimash Kudaibergen. The project involves performers from Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Malaysia, and Serbia.

Kyrgyzstan

Imports of fruits, nuts, and vegetables from China to Kyrgyzstan reached $1 billion in 2025, Fresh Plaza reports, citing the General Administration of Customs of China.

China is expanding its presence in Kyrgyzstan’s hydropower sector. The Kyrgyz government signed an MoU with a Chinese investment entity, Kyrgyzstan Reclaim Co. Ltd, to build several small hydroelectric plants with a total annual generating capacity of 200 megawatts. The plants will be situated on the Tar river; the projected cost is $300 million. In addition, China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd is scheduled to start an upgrade of the Uch-Kurgan hydroelectric power plant.

The Chinese Embassy in Bishkek organized a briefing for top Kyrgyz officials - including Kyrgyzstan’s State Secretary Arslan Koychiev and Deputy Parliament Speaker Karim Khandzheza - to raise awareness about recent Chinese Communist Party Central Committee decisions.

Tajikistan

China’s state-owned energy giant CNPC received a license to conduct large-scale oil and gas exploration at 57 sites in southwestern Tajikistan, according to local media reports. The exploration license is reportedly valid until 2033.

Specialists from the state unitary water management enterprise Obu Koresi Dushanbe visited the Chinese city of Harbin to study best practices in water supply and sanitation, the Tajik state news agency Khovar reported.

Uzbekistan

China’s Xinhua news agency is working to deepen cooperation with Uzbek media outlets and think tanks, ostensibly aiming to “jointly tell true, vivid, and compelling stories of friendly cooperation between China and Uzbekistan,” Xinhua’s president Fu Hua noted during a meeting with Uzbekistan’s ambassador to China, Farhod Arziev. It was not immediately disclosed whether any specific arrangements were agreed upon.