Kazakhstan raised its permitted weekly flights to China from 150 to 180 and agreed to add routes to Chengdu and Kashgar. Uzbekistan will increase its weekly flights from 100 to 114 and proposed new routes linking it with Kazakhstan, including more services between Tashkent, Almaty and Astana. Ahead of the meeting, Air Astana and China Southern Airlines signed a strategic partnership agreement. Kazakhstan’s vice minister of transport said flights between the two countries were up 52 percent year on year.

Astana is also working with the International Civil Aviation Organization on a 25-year civil aviation master plan. Airport modernization is under way in Almaty and Urzhar; Kazakhstan is building a second runway in Shymkent and completing regional airports in Zaisan, Katonkaragay and Kendirli. Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon ratified a five-year civil aviation safety program running until 2031, while Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdymukhamedov endorsed measures to strengthen aviation safety.

Economic ties were also on the agenda at the Second Tien Shan Forum on Economic Cooperation in Central Asia. Kazakhstan and China discussed a direct investment fund with initial capitalization of up to $200 million, alongside a proposed single financing and insurance window for bilateral projects. Kazakh manufacturers signed agreements worth approximately $100 million at the China International Import Expo; details were not disclosed. Kazatomprom CEO Meirzhan Yussupov told President Kassym-Jomar Tokayev that the company had secured new natural uranium supply agreements with major utilities in India and China.

Negotiations continue over Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant, nearly 18 months after China’s National Nuclear Corporation was selected as the preferred contractor. The Energy Ministry has not explained the delay. Small modular reactors, pitched by the United States, remain a possible alternative or addition to Kazakhstan’s energy mix.

Kazakhstan is preparing to join a test of digital freight documents for shipments between China and the Eurasian Economic Union. Similar digitally documented cargo—including coal, fertilizers and consumer goods—is already moving through the Grodekovo-Suifenhe crossing between Northeast China and Russia’s Far East. The Eurasian Economic Commission’s trade representative said documents for shipments involving Kazakhstan could soon be ready for signature. Separately, Kazakhstan is developing a centralized fiscal system using big data, cross-checking and AI for tax collection, price control and spending oversight. President Tokayev said the Bakhty-Ayagoz railway is expected to open in 2027, with planned annual freight capacity of 20 million tons.

Elsewhere, China’s Ganfeng Lithium Group signed a mining cooperation memorandum with Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency. Kyrgyzstan’s Eldik Bank and China’s Export-Import Bank Xinjiang branch agreed to cooperate on long-term financing for infrastructure, transport and technology projects, while the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry signed a technology-transfer memorandum with the China-CentralAsia TechnologyTransfer Center. No specific investments, loans or project timetables were announced.

In Tajikistan, the Transport Ministry signed an agreement with Nanjing Communication Engineering Company Ltd to reconstruct 54.1 kilometers of the Baljuvon-Sari Khosor road in Khatlon Province. The work includes 10 bridges and 121 drainage culverts. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development lists a sovereign loan of up to €49.2 million for the overall project; the contractor’s agreement value was not disclosed. Asia-Plus reported on November 5 that preliminary work was under way at 15 locations, with 115 workers, including 40 Chinese nationals. Tajikistan and China also approved a feasibility study for a 90-kilometer section of the Murghab-Kulma highway. Construction is expected to start in 2027 with Chinese grant funding, according to Caravan Info, citing the Transport Ministry.

Turkmenistan’s industry ministry signed a cooperation memorandum with Sany International Development Ltd, and an Energy Ministry representative signed a separate energy-sector memorandum with TBEA Shenyang Transformer Group. At a November 6-7 business forum in Shanghai, government-linked Ojar Aziya sought Chinese funding for a highway connecting Sarakhs, Mary and Serkhetabat and a logistics complex in Afghanistan’s Turgundi. The highway has been under consideration since 2024; Beijing has not signaled whether it will fund either project.

In Uzbekistan, the construction minister met China State Construction International Corporation to discuss plans for roads and pipelines, without announcing specific projects. Uzbek and Chinese trade bodies agreed to finalize a cooperation memorandum covering agriculture, seed production, textiles, machinery, vocational education, ports and logistics. A delegation from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana region also reported reaching unspecified cooperation agreements at the 15th China Overseas Investment Fair in Beijing.