Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke with Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, on 27 May, with both sides reaffirming their commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation, according to Qazinform. The call covered trade, infrastructure and the further development of the Kazakhstan–China strategic partnership.
The conversation comes at a moment of record bilateral economic engagement. Kazakhstan–China trade reached $48.7 billion in 2025, an 11% increase on the previous year, making China Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. Chinese investment accounts for the largest foreign direct investment share in the country, with over 200 joint projects active across energy, mining and logistics.
Infrastructure is the centrepiece of current bilateral engagement. China has been a major financier of railway capacity expansion along the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor, while simultaneously seeking to develop its own logistics position at Aktau on the Caspian — a port also being expanded with EBRD financing and serving as the key transfer point between Chinese-bound rail and European-bound Caspian shipping.
"As war, sanctions, and disruption reshape trade between Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan is trying to turn the Middle Corridor from an alternative route into a more predictable logistics system."
— Times of Central Asia, May 2026
The Tokayev–Zhao call follows their encounter at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek four days earlier, where Kazakhstan and China signed cooperation documents on digital infrastructure, agricultural trade and investment facilitation. The back-to-back engagements signal that Kazakhstan is treating its Chinese relationship as requiring active management — maintaining visibility with Beijing while simultaneously pursuing the Western partnerships on critical minerals and nuclear energy featured in this week's IAEA visit.