Kazakhstan doubles agricultural exports to China

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture, Aidarbek Saparov, held fruitful discussions with a team from the People’s Republic of China.

Discussions took place with Fang Hongwei, Secretary of the Party Committee of Xi’an City, and Jia Hei, Chairman and General Director of the industrial firm “Xi’an Ai Ju,” which specializes in bread and butter.

The discussions focused on improving agricultural sector collaboration, cooperative initiatives, and resolving existing difficulties linked to agricultural product import and export.

“1,718 Kazakh businesses export goods to China, with 1,629 of the businesses dealing in agricultural items and 86 in livestock products,” Aidarbek Saparov said.

Commerce between the two countries reached $798.9 million from January to August 2023, a noteworthy rise of 72.7% over the same period in the previous year, when trade was $262.6%.

“Flax seeds, wheat, barley, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, processing waste from cereals or legumes, seeds and fruits of other oilseeds, rapeseed oil, animal feed products, and raw tobacco materials were among the main agricultural export items,” Saparov noted.

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture emphasized the increasing trend of Kazakh grain consumption in China, in addition to the overall development in exports.

Conversely, from January to August 2023, agricultural imports of $145.6 million were made by Kazakhstan from China, an increase of 1.8%. Citrus fruits, tomatoes, almonds, and vegetables were the main imports.