Xinjiang’s Western Growth Runs Through Central Asia

Central Asia has become the backbone of Xinjiang’s foreign trade, accounting for 55 % of its total turnover in 2025. This represented almost 40 % of China’s overall trade with those nations. Trade with Central Asian states reached 215.7 billion yuan (around $30 billion) in the first three quarters, highlighting China’s westward economic shift as maritime routes face disruption. Khorgos has emerged as China’s largest land checkpoint for vehicle exports, while the new China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway and expanded Alashankou corridor accelerate connectivity.

Driven by private exporters and digitized customs, Xinjiang’s trade with Belt and Road partners is expanding rapidly—turning the region into a strategic anchor of China’s western policy and a stabilizing hub of Eurasian integration.

The map shows the location of the Khorgos border crossing between China and Kazakhstan, one of the key land ports along the China–Europe transport corridor. Map source: SCMP Graphic.

Central Asia Becomes Xinjiang’s Main Trade Anchor

Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan remain Xinjiang’s top partners, together accounting for the majority of regional trade. Across China’s entire western neighborhood, overall trade with Central Asia hit a record $39.8 billion in the first five months of 2025. Kazakhstan alone registered $43 billion in bilateral goods trade with China in 2024, driven by energy, logistics, and high-tech projects tied to Belt and Road corridors.

Khorgos Leads Westbound Exports

Xinjiang’s total foreign trade rose 22 % year on year, powered by private exporters responsible for 98 % of growth. The number of active firms reached 3,629, while exports of vehicles, auto parts, and household appliances all recorded double-digit increases.

The Khorgos land port on the China–Kazakhstan frontier has become the country’s largest checkpoint for vehicle exports, with over 300,000 units shipped between January and October 2025. In 2024, exports had already reached a record 400,000 vehicles.

Customs operations at Khorgos are now fully digitized and run 24 hours a day, while “ferryman logistics” models where Chinese drivers hand over vehicles directly to foreign buyers at the border have cut costs and waiting times. The result is a seamless system that links China’s western production centers to Central Asian and Eurasian markets.

Infrastructure Boosts the Trade Surge

Trade growth is sustained by major infrastructure projects launched in 2025, foremost the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan (CKU) railway, a $4.7 billion project that the some analysts call a regional “game changer.” Once operational, it will reduce China–Europe transit times by 7–10 days compared to northern routes through Russia and give Kyrgyzstan its first direct rail link to China.

Xinjiang’s other freight hubs are expanding in parallel. Alashankou Port handled over 5,000 China–Europe (Central Asia) freight train trips by September 2025, benefiting from upgraded facilities that cut clearance times to just 20 minutes. Across all western crossings, Xinjiang ports together managed over 10,000 China–Europe train trips in 2025, covering 21 countries via 125 routes.

Strategic Implications for China’s Western Policy

Trade with Belt and Road partners rose to 341.5 billion yuan (about $48 billion) in 2025, with Central Asia providing the largest share. As maritime routes face disruptions from global crises, Beijing is deepening its reliance on secure land corridors through its western frontier.

Xinjiang’s Pilot Free Trade Zone and the western development strategy are now closely aligned, linking customs harmonization, industrial policy, and border infrastructure with SCO-based security and investment dialogue. This fusion of trade, logistics, and security reflects China’s intent to anchor regional stability through economic interdependence.

Socieeconomic and Geopolitical Impact

At the local level, new industrial clusters, logistics centers, and employment programs in Xinjiang’s border zones support both economic growth and internal stabilization objectives. For Central Asia, deepening integration with China brings dual outcomes: expanded export opportunities and tighter structural dependence on Chinese markets and infrastructure.

Strategically, the more this connectivity deepens, the more Central Asia becomes embedded in Beijing’s long-term vision of continental integration. Through rail, trade, and digital infrastructure, China is consolidating Xinjiang as the core land bridge of the Silk Road Economic Belt, a stabilizing axis linking the country’s domestic development goals to its geopolitical ambitions across Eurasia.