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China's Ministry of Commerce issued Notice No. 404 on 29 September on 2027 car and motorcycle export licences. Unlike last year, automakers must document overseas service outlets with contracts, local permits and proof of repair capability; first-category car makers need at least 50 outlets. They must also sign a compliance document and declare prices accurately. The online system opened on 30 September and local reviews close on 28 October. Kazakh dealers and workshops serving Chinese brands will be drawn into the paperwork.

On July 17, 2026, Kazakh President Tokayev attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai and delivered a speech. During the visit to Shanghai, China and Kazakhstan signed more than 70 agreements and memorandums totaling over $15 billion, covering digital infrastructure, transport and logistics, and security; Kazakhstan said that bilateral trade last year reached $49 billion, and China's economic investment in Kazakhstan exceeded $30 billion.

In June 2026 Kazakhstan's foreign minister signed two orders changing the investor one-stop-shop rules and the rules for the investors register and the national digital investment platform. A Chinese company seeking support for a project first has to work out whether it falls into the national or the regional project pool, and whether it can reach the new green corridor score of 1.6. We could not check the text of the second order, so its details rest on the US law firm Morgan Lewis's summary.

Kazakhstan's new Tax Code applies from 1 January 2026. The basic VAT rate goes up from 12% to 16%, the basic corporate income tax rate stays at 20%, and banks and gambling operators move to 25%. Chinese companies already working in the country, or about to enter it, need to rerun their pricing, input VAT and profit models, and check separately how dividends and share sales are taxed.

In June in Urumqi, Deputy Prime Minister and National Economy Minister Serik Zhumangarin met the heads of China's Pingmei Shenma and Xinjiang Zhongxinjian Animal Husbandry. Pingmei Shenma is weighing a coal-chemicals complex of up to USD 1.5 billion in Kazakhstan, with Abai Region offered as the site. Zhongxinjian already grows feed corn in the Khorgos SEZ and plans a corn-processing park of 1 million tonnes a year. Only a memorandum has been signed and a roadmap agreed, there is no final investment decision, and USD 1.5 billion is the ceiling the Chinese side is considering.

On 2 October the AI Development Council held its third meeting at the Akorda, devoted to the deep digital transformation of industry. The President asked for a move from scattered digital projects to AI built into production as a whole, judged by measurable economic results, and set out a fast track from pilots to commercial use, common standards for industrial data and attention to domestic solutions. It is a statement of direction without sums or deadlines, so Chinese suppliers of AI technology and equipment to Kazakh industry will have to wait for concrete government measures.

On 2 October President Tokayev received Kai-Fu Lee, CEO of Sinovation Ventures and 01.ai. According to the Akorda press service, the government has started a project to bring AI into secondary education. Lee set out the pilot for small schools: it has run in 10 schools since September 2026, with 60 planned for January 2027 and 500 for April 2027.

During the AI & Digital Bridge 2026 forum in Astana, Kazakhstan and the Chinese side signed three agreements to jointly establish three joint research centres in renewable energy, applied artificial intelligence, and digital data storage. The Kazakh Ministry of Energy did not disclose the investment amount, funding sources, or launch dates, nor did it specify the terms of technology transfer or intellectual property ownership.