BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. Right now, Tianjin
is internet hosting one of many yr’s most vital worldwide occasions –
the Shanghai Cooperation Group (SCO) summit. Central Asia,
because the geographic and financial coronary heart of the group, is on the
focus. It’s right here, on the crossroads of main
transport routes and vitality flows, that tasks are taking form
that can largely outline the way forward for integration throughout
Eurasia.
The position of the area’s international locations can’t be overstated.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
are steadily constructing a system of cooperation that positions them
not solely as an important hyperlink between China, Russia, South Asia, and
Europe, but additionally as impartial facilities of progress. Forward of the
summit, it’s notably important that leaders of all 5
Central Asian states have gathered in Tianjin to debate new
instructions for the SCO and to finalize the group’s
improvement technique by 2035.
Over the previous two years, commerce amongst SCO members has grown by
almost a 3rd, approaching $1 trillion. This progress has been
fueled by infrastructure improvement, increasing vitality cooperation,
and energetic investments in agriculture and know-how. Central
Asia’s contribution to those efforts is changing into more and more
influential.
Kazakhstan, working intently with Chinese language corporations akin to CNPC,
PowerChina, and China Southern Energy Grid, is advancing renewable
vitality tasks and getting ready to launch a coal gasification plant.
Uzbekistan is implementing an formidable program to construct photo voltaic and
wind energy crops with a mixed capability of almost 5 GW.
Tajikistan, with Chinese language funding and funding from the Asian
Infrastructure Funding Financial institution, is modernizing its vitality system
and persevering with work on the Rogun Hydropower Plant, which might
turn out to be the most important within the area.
These initiatives not solely strengthen the vitality independence of
Central Asian international locations but additionally create alternatives to export
inexperienced vitality to neighboring states, boosting the area’s position as a
supplier of sustainable vitality options globally.
Alongside vitality, Central Asia is actively creating its
transport community, changing into a key hub in Eurasia. In 2025,
development started on the 523 km China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan
railway, which is predicted to chop freight journey time to Europe by
per week.
The Trans-Caspian Worldwide Transport Route, or Center
Hall, can be gaining significance. In 2024, cargo volumes alongside
this route doubled to 1.5 million tons. Azerbaijan and China have
strengthened container transport cooperation, dispatching greater than
300 block trains in a yr, with plans to extend the quantity to
1,000 by 2026.
A serious improvement has been the opening of a brand new freight line
from Tianjin to Uzbekistan through Khorgos, lowering logistics prices by
20-30%. Moreover, China and regional international locations are digitizing
customs procedures to hurry up cargo motion and lower
administrative boundaries.
The Caspian port of Aktau has turn out to be a central node in China’s
transport technique. Chinese language investments have elevated its capability
to 240,000 containers per yr, making it a key hub for the
China-Europe Specific routes.
In June 2025, a treaty on friendship and good-neighborliness was
signed in Astana, selling the accelerated improvement of
transport and railway tasks and logistics infrastructure. This
settlement underscores Central Asia’s dedication to coordinated
motion and strengthening strategic ties with China inside the SCO
framework. On the identical time, contributors face challenges,
together with balancing pursuits, addressing safety considerations, and
making certain equitable distribution of advantages from large-scale
tasks.
The Tianjin summit is predicted to be a landmark occasion for the
SCO. The agenda contains the brand new improvement technique by 2035,
in addition to discussions on vitality, transport, digitalization, and
humanitarian cooperation. Central Asia will play a number one position, as
the success of the group’s integration efforts relies upon
largely on tasks being applied within the area.
Over the previous 20 years, the SCO has advanced right into a dynamic
and open platform, connecting international locations throughout Asia, Europe, and
Africa. Right now, it faces the duty not solely of strengthening financial
ties but additionally of providing the world new fashions of cooperation based mostly
on mutual respect and balanced pursuits. Central Asia, with its
wealthy assets and strategic transit place, stays a key issue
on this course of.
The Tianjin summit won’t simply be a gathering of leaders – it
will mark an important milestone in shaping the way forward for Eurasian
integration, with Central Asia taking part in one of the vital vital
roles.
