China is challenging Russia's long-standing stranglehold on Central Asia's arms market. Uzbekistan appears to have taken delivery of four Chinese-made Chengdu J-10CE multi-role combat aircraft, according to multiple reports, including a post on X featuring a photo of one of the fighters supposedly acquired by the Uzbek Air Force. Tashkent reportedly has an agreement with Beijing to receive a total of 24 fighters, though neither Uzbek nor Chinese officials have confirmed the initial delivery. If accurate, the deal would signal a significant expansion of China's military cooperation with Central Asia. It would also make Uzbekistan only the second known export customer for the J-10CE after Pakistan, which began operating the type in 2022, and a departure for an air force whose combat fleet has consisted largely of Soviet-designed MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters.

Russia's grip on the region's arms market has been slipping in recent years, as the mounting demands of sustaining its war effort in Ukraine have sapped its ability to supply weapons to foreign nations around the globe — a retreat also visible in the arms-transfer data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Beyond diversifying their arms purchases, several Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, have also sought to develop domestic arms manufacturing capability, especially for drone production.

Uzbekistan

Sinopec, China's state-owned energy giant, and Uzbekneftegaz, the state-owned holding company of Uzbekistan's oil and gas industry, are considering a deal to jointly extract hydrocarbons on the Ustyurt plateau, where several promising reserves have been identified, according to Uzbek state news agency UzA. Uzbek officials have reportedly requested that Sinopec provide specifications for the technological solutions needed to drill wells up to 6,000 meters deep under conditions of high reservoir pressure and elevated temperatures. Sinopec was recently approved to implement a project worth more than $6 billion, also in western Uzbekistan.

Uzmetkombinat, the country's largest iron and steel enterprise, and the Chinese metallurgical giant Baigong Steel have signed a memorandum of understanding covering the mining of mineral deposits, steel production, and other investment projects, the Uzbek company announced. The value of the deal was not specified, but it covers at least three major deposits.

A delegation from Uzbekistan's Ferghana region, during a visit to China, reached a preliminary agreement with the Chinese company Teglong to produce electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) in Ferghana, reports UzDaily.uz.

Kazakhstan

As China's trade with Central Asia grows, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are looking for ways to optimize logistics. Representatives of the two countries' transport ministries met to assess transit and storage capacity at the dry megaport of Khorgos on the Kazakh-Chinese border, a rail transshipment hub where freight is shifted between China's standard-gauge track and Kazakhstan's broader gauge, and to explore ways to increase freight flows. A few weeks earlier, Uzbek and Kazakh officials conducted a similar examination of the port of Aktau, another major hub in the Middle Corridor trade network, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route that links China to Europe via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus and Turkey without crossing Russia.

Kazakhstan and China have opened a joint earthquake research center in Almaty to improve seismic monitoring and develop early-warning technologies, reports Almaty.tv. The center will initially operate three laboratories focused on seismic risks, monitoring, and early warning, with Kazakh and Chinese scientists working together and paying particular attention to the seismically active Tian Shan and southeastern Kazakhstan. The region has experienced two relatively small earthquakes, each of a magnitude of about 5.0 on the Richter scale, in mid-August. In January 2024, Almaty was rocked by a significant tremor.

Kazakhstan plans to adapt Chinese agricultural technologies to combat drought, soil degradation, and declining soil fertility through a partnership between Kazakhstan's ECOJER association and research centers in China's Hunan province, according to InBusiness.kz. The cooperation framework includes developing a digital soil-carbon map, testing drought-resistant crops, and precision spraying. The partnership is also exploring the feasibility of establishing a joint research and training center on carbon farming.

In the first half of 2026, Kazakhstan's oil exports to China via the Kazakhstan-China Pipeline, which carries crude to Alashankou on the Chinese border, rose 43 percent year-on-year to 916,000 tons, according to KazTransOil.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan and China have agreed on a draft cooperation agreement to improve the management of their shared border crossings. If finalized, the deal would establish a Kyrgyz-Chinese committee and working groups for individual checkpoints to coordinate agencies and address operational issues.

China Media Group has launched screenings of Chinese films in Kyrgyzstan, aimed at promoting cultural exchange and closer ties between the two countries.

Tajikistan

The China-Tajik Mining Company, a joint venture long touted by Tajik authorities as an example of the benefits of bilateral cooperation, has turned out to be the country's largest tax scofflaw, owing the state about $26 million in back taxes, according to the opposition media outlet Pamir Inside, which cited official government data.

Tajikistan and China are exploring the implementation of Ban Mo, a vocational education cooperation program, between Bokhtar Medical College and China's Taishan Vocational College of Nursing, according to the Tajik state news agency Khovar.

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan will participate in the ninth China International Import Expo (CIIE), the annual import-focused trade fair China has staged in Shanghai since 2018, from November 5-10. Officials in Ashgabat indicate that Turkmen firms plan to showcase their export and manufacturing potential in a national pavilion, reports Turkmen Portal.

By Eurasianet