ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 6. China is interested in increasing imports of agricultural products from Kazakhstan, said the Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao, Trend reports.
He made the remark during a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Aydarbek Saparov.
"China is ready to cooperate to ensure continuous imports of meat, grain and other agricultural products from Kazakhstan. Considering the size of the Chinese market, there is potential to increase imports from Kazakhstan," he said.
In turn, Aydarbek Saparov noted that cooperation in the field of agriculture is an important component of Kazakh-Chinese relations, which is supported by positive dynamics in trade in agricultural products between the countries.
"Thus, in 2023, the trade turnover of agricultural products increased 1.6 times and amounted to more than $1.3 billion. In addition, in recent years, the demand for consumption of organic and environmentally friendly Kazakh agricultural products has been growing among the Chinese population. Exports of agricultural products to China in 2023 almost doubled and amounted to $1.01 billion," the minister said.
According to him, the Chinese market is also of great interest for the export of Kazakh grain. "We have the potential to increase annual supply volumes to 2 million tons," he noted.
Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China amounted to $31.4 billion in 2023. The volume of trade turnover increased by 30 percent compared to the same period in 2022 ($24.2 billion).
At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to China for the above period amounted to $14.7 billion, which is 14.7 percent more than from January through December 2022 ($13 billion).
In addition, imports from China from January through December 2023 increased by 50.5 percent and amounted to $16.7 billion. In 2022, imports amounted to $11.1 billion.