Protesters block Oyu Tolgoi road and halt copper exports to China
Mongolia's Radical Reform movement blocked the main transport road from Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi mine at 09:00 on 17 June, stopping copper concentrate trucks heading for the Chinese border. Rio's shares fell 1.6% in London. The dispute is about who gets how much from one of the world's largest copper deposits.
Kyrgyzstan and Georgia reach for a Black Sea link as the China railway advances
On the first visit to Bishkek by a Georgian head of government, Prime Minister Kobakhidze and President Japarov agreed to connect the new China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to Georgia’s Black Sea ports. The bet is that the Middle Corridor outlasts the war that briefly made it fashionable.
Central Asia’s wartime windfall ends with the war
For 100 days the closed Gulf made Central Asia’s oil more valuable and its non-Gulf routes look wise. With Hormuz reopening, the region goes back to competing on price and reliability, with less of both than it would like.
The minerals man, the Shenzhen check, and the Russian gas tap
In one week Kazakhstan hosted an American official hunting for minerals, pocketed $6 billion from a Chinese roadshow, and offered to pump more Russian gas to its neighbor. The performance was flawless. The stage is getting smaller.
The Iran war is redrawing Central Asia’s map to the sea
Every escalation in the Gulf pushes the region’s trade further off the route through Iran and onto the corridors west and east. The war hands Kazakhstan an oil-price windfall and a bill at the same time.
In one day, Kazakhstan courts Washington, Beijing and Moscow
On a single day this week Kazakhstan opened a US-led minerals dialogue, banked 6 billion dollars from China for a new city, and offered to pump more Russian gas to its neighbour. That is multi-vector foreign policy as a daily schedule.
Kazakhstan’s Alatau roadshow in Shenzhen lands up to $6 billion in deals
A Kazakh delegation came out of a Shenzhen roadshow on 10 June with 24 agreements worth up to 6 billion dollars for its new city of Alatau. The model, and much of the money, is Chinese.
The US and Central Asia open a critical minerals dialogue in Astana
American and Central Asian officials gathered in Astana this week to turn last year’s framework deals into actual mines and processing plants. US Under Secretary Jacob Helberg is there. So are Chinese exhibitors.
The scramble for the Caucasus, from Washington’s bill to a Chinese-built port
In one week Washington moved against Chinese and Russian sway in Georgia, the foreign ministers of Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a declaration in Istanbul, and a Chinese consortium kept its grip on Georgia’s flagship port. The Caucasus is being contested in real time.
US House passes a bill on Chinese and Russian influence in Georgia
The US House passed the Countering China’s Control of the Caucasus Act on 8 June, ordering a classified report on Russian and Chinese intelligence activity in Georgia. It is the sharpest sign yet of Washington’s rift with Tbilisi.
Central Asia declared an AI year. The grid will decide how far it gets
The region is racing to build digital economies, AI centres and crypto hubs. All of it needs electricity Central Asia does not yet have, which is why the same governments are courting Korea, Rosatom and Beijing for new power.
Central Asia’s critical minerals race: the deals outpace the mines
Central Asia keeps signing minerals deals with the West; China keeps taking the minerals. The gap now is bankability, power and processing.
Mongolia is building a railway straight into China's steel industry — and it knows exactly what that means
83 million tonnes of coal exported to China in 2024. A new cross-border railway under construction since April 2025. $1.5 billion in additional annual revenue projected. The numbers are compelling. The dependency is real.
Mongolia went to Shanghai to raise money. 300 investors showed up
The first Mongolia Investment Forum in China closed on May 27. It was the fourth edition of a global series — after New York, London, and Singapore. The choice of city was the message.
Tencent is now a Kaspi.kz shareholder: what a $518 million bet on Kazakhstan means
The deal closed in April. The implications are still unfolding. China's largest consumer tech company has a stake in Kazakhstan's dominant super app.
The SCO at 25: A Quarter-Century of Summits, Zero Kilometres of New Railway
The anniversary session in St. Petersburg today will celebrate what the organisation has become. The Central Asian members are more interested in what it might finally build
Kazakhstan Sells 3.4 Billion Yuan in Debut Sovereign Panda Bond
Demand was twice the supply. The Ministry of Finance calls it proof of Chinese investor confidence in Kazakhstani macroeconomics.