In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Hamid Hakim referred to the first face-to-face meeting of the heads of state of China and five Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, in Beijing and the agreements reached there, and stated: Last year The first session of this meeting was held virtually. In this year’s face-to-face meeting, China and five Central Asian countries signed seven bilateral and multilateral documents, including the “Xi’an Declaration” of the China-Central Asia Summit and the list of the results of the China-Central Asia Summit, including the Asian Investment Bank of China, signed agreements to participate in large projects in those countries.

The professor of Allameh Tabataba’i University said: In his speech at the summit, Xi Jinping presented four visions of what kind of Central Asia the world needs, four principles for creating a China-Central Asia society with a common future, and eight proposals for developing bilateral cooperation. 

Saying that in the analysis of holding the meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia in China, Beijing’s competition with Moscow can also be considered, he continued: China’s influence expansion in that region, which is regarded as Russia’s backyard, is definitely not acceptable to Moscow. Over the past three decades, China has gradually come out of its defensive shell and increased its role in the world arena, and over time, this increasing trend has continued. This active presence and seeking interests outside its borders is a requirement for China to play its role as a world power.

The analyst of international affairs considered Central Asia as having particular importance for China and said: In thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, China has been able to establish its position as the most significant economic and trade partner of Central Asian countries, and in fact, China views this region as the gateway to the Western world. The routes proposed by China in the vast “Belt and Road Initiative” are the codes that confirm this view. In its interaction with Central Asia, China has considered a pragmatic policy centered on the economy. It has put this economy in interaction with politics and has not been indifferent to political and security issues.

Hakim elaborated on the final statement of the meeting of the leaders of Beijing and Central Asian countries and pointed to the agreements reached to increase participation in the field of energy supply, emphasizing and supporting the territorial integrity, independence, security, and sovereignty of those countries as well as infrastructure development, adding: These agreements bring stabilization and intensification of China’s presence and influence in this region, and as a result, it entails an increase in Beijing’s ability to play in those countries.

Saying that the countries of the Central Asian region tend to get out of the shadow of Russia while maintaining their interactions with that country, he added: China has a balancing role for those countries, and at the same time, those countries are very important for China in supplying energy. However, China has greater interests in expanding such relations and puts its steps on Russia’s foothold.

Hakim continued: So far, in the joint agreements between China and Russia, we have seen a kind of task division between them; China did not enter much into security issues, and Russia, despite some measures, had accepted China’s role-playing in the economic sphere in those areas. But this meeting, the implementation of the agreements, and the consequences it will have will make it more transparent that China is putting its steps on Russia’s foothold in this region.

Saying that China has now gone beyond the task division with Russia in Central Asia in line with developing its power and enhancing its role in the international system and seeks to develop economic relations and strengthen security and political relations with the countries of this region, he said: Last year, China’s customs announced that in 2022, China’s trade with five Central Asian countries reached more than 70 billion dollars and have grown by 40 percent. Such figures were evaluated as a historical record of China’s relations with those countries. According to the latest published statistics, this trend continued in the first quarter of 2023 and reached 18 billion dollars, with a growth of about 22 percent.

Remembering that China has invested 15 billion dollars in Central Asian countries, the professor of international relations noted that all Central Asian countries, especially those that claim superiority, such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have extensive interactions with the West and the United States. But definitely, in this region, the influence and power of China and Russia cannot be compared to that of the West, and the US should accept the immediate neighborhood role of China and Russia in this region. Especially considering Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, China is seeking to improve its relations in Central Asia to raise its weight in this region and challenge the presence of the West.

Emphasizing that China’s promises to the heads of Central Asian countries and agreements for the development of infrastructure are very important for them and that it is important for China to use the geopolitical weaknesses of those countries, especially the weaknesses of the two smaller countries in the region, he stated: The countries of the region also want to overcome those weaknesses and China is considered as a suitable option in this regard. In addition, taking into account the analysis presented about China’s development and ambitious intentions in this region, the mutual regional interests and meeting the needs of those countries through China are still vital.

While referring to the positions of the Western countries regarding the talks between Beijing and the heads of the Central Asian countries, as well as Russia’s warnings about some anti-security actions of the United States in that region, Hakim said: In the situation that after the war in Ukraine, we are witnessing more confrontation between the East and the West, the East with the approach of opposing the unipolar system and emphasizing the multipolar system takes measures. The West considers this action to strengthen the anti-domination front. In particular, the issue of “building a society with a common future” between China and Central Asia was raised in that meeting, and its implementation at multilateral and bilateral levels in the region was officially included in the “Xi’an Declaration.”