Description
This paper reveals the geopolitical and geo-economic background of Chinese involvement in Central Asia’s natural gas industry (in five countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan). In recent years, energy transport cooperation between energy-hungry East Asian countries and former Soviet successor states, Iran, and the Middle East has become more visible. From the Chinese perspective, Central Asia plays an essential role as a source of energy and raw materials. It is also a significant trade relationship, a transit region to the West and the Muslim world. The timeliness of this research is underlined by the several developments of the last few years that contribute to the rearrangement of the geopolitical and economic situation in Central Asia and have a severe impact on the management of resources in the region.
In this paper, I aim to demonstrate that, although the resources acquired from Central Asia represent only a modest amount in China’s total energy needs, Beijing is still fundamentally transforming the structure of the Central Asian energy space. Still, one question needs to be answered: is there a significant change in the level of Chinese activism in the Central Asian natural gas industry before and after launching the Belt and Road Initiative?
