In the first five months of 2024, bilateral agricultural trade between China and Kazakhstan increased by 14%, reaching $540mn, with Kazakhstan’s exports contributing $380mn, the Times of Central Asia reported.

The Kazakh Minister for Agriculture, Aidarbek Saparov, has highlighted China as the largest market for Kazakhstani agricultural products, stressing the strengthening agricultural trade ties between the two nations.

Kazakhstan primarily exports grain and oilseeds to China while importing Chinese vegetables and nuts. In 2023, Kazakhstan’s agricultural exports to China doubled, reaching $1bn. 

To facilitate this trade, Kazakhstan has signed protocols with China, allowing the export of 27 types of agricultural products, including 18 types of crop products and nine types of livestock products. Presently, nine Kazakh companies export livestock products and 728 companies export crop products, all awaiting inclusion in China’s importers register.

The Kazakh Agriculture Ministry has also signed an agreement with China’s customs service to standardize veterinary requirements for exporting a range of livestock products. These products include cattle skins, dry mare’s milk, frozen poultry products, horse meat, offal from slaughtered animals, meat products subjected to high heat treatment, as well as chilled beef and lamb.

Minister Saparov noted that Kazakhstan ranks among the world’s top 25 food exporters, with Kazakh agricultural products reaching 80 countries. Over the past five years, Kazakhstan’s agricultural exports have doubled, hitting $5.4bn.

“We intend to continue increasing these figures. In the context of a growing food deficit in the world, our country seeks to double agricultural exports by 2029,” Saparov voiced. 

He also mentioned that Kazakhstan is shifting its agricultural export structure to focus more on deeply processed products, the exports of which have doubled over the past five years, reaching $2.3bn.