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At the Kazakhstan–China investment forum in Almaty on 25 September, the Abai regional administration exchanged two agreements with a consortium of Xinjiang Sanbao Industrial Group and Inner Mongolia Wanjiang Investment. The first covers a 300,000-tonne-a-year primary aluminium smelter with a 1 GW wind farm, about $1.5bn in total including roughly $1bn for the smelter, built between March 2027 and December 2028. The second is a particleboard plant in Semey with capacity of 2 million sheets a year, costing about $172m, for 2027–2028.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Construction reviewed its 18 special economic zones on October 9 and singled out Turkistan Tokyma, the textile mill of China's Xinjiang Lihua in the Turan SEZ: phase one started in December 2025 with 430 jobs, and at full capacity it is designed to produce 11,400 tonnes of yarn and 47.3 million square metres of fabric a year. The zones have drawn 11.5 trillion tenge in total. According to the regional akimat, the mill represents 86.2 billion tenge of investment, with the remaining three phases planned for completion by December 2026.

Kazakhstan's Transport Minister Nurlan Sauranbayev told a government meeting on 6 October that truck waiting time on the Nur Zholy–Khorgos route at the Kazakhstan–China border has fallen tenfold, from about 30 days to 3 by his account. A digital freight passport with a single QR code has replaced the paper queue ticket; over 11,000 have been issued and clearance speed is up 30%. The target is no more than 30 minutes per checkpoint crossing, with the share of digitally tracked freight set at 20% this year, 60% in 2027 and 80% in 2028.

The East Kazakhstan regional government and Kazakh-Chinese joint venture East Motors Corporation signed a document on 25 September at the Kazakhstan–China Investment Forum in Almaty for a complex producing passenger cars, special vehicles and engines. Capital spending after the preparatory phase is put at no less than 110bn tenge, capacity at up to 80,000 units a year, with localisation rising in stages to 50%. It is still a memorandum: the Chinese partner, timeline and site have not been disclosed.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport said on 5 October that main dredging has begun at Aktau port, with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) as general contractor. About 1.3 million cubic metres of soil will be removed to bring depths to 6–7 m as the Caspian Sea level keeps falling, with completion planned by year-end. The ministry estimates Middle Corridor (TITR) volumes could rise by up to 30% and sea-leg costs fall 10–15%; these are official projections.

Turan Chemical Company, backed by an investor from China, has laid the foundation of a synthetic ammonia and urea plant in the special economic zone of Sauran district, Turkestan region. According to the regional akimat, the project costs $200 million, with annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes of ammonia and about 300,000 tonnes of urea and 300 new jobs. The agreement was signed on 25 September at the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum. Earlier figures differed, and no start-up date has been announced.

The first phase of China's Fufeng Group corn deep-processing project in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl region started up by video link on 25 September, with $350 million invested and capacity to process 500,000 tonnes of corn a year. A second phase would lift capacity to 3 million tonnes for a further $1.15 billion, with about 1,500 jobs once complete. For Chinese firms in agriculture, feed and food additives, local corn demand and the amino-acid supply picture may shift.

The Middle Corridor, or Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, from China via Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia to Türkiye or Europe is not one fixed line but a chain of rail, Caspian ferries or feeders, Black Sea shipping and road. Based on official and carrier sources, this piece explains three common routings, port differences, what the published transit times cover, and how transit, EU entry filing and final import are split, for Chinese exporters and forwarders preparing quotes.

On 21 September the EEC Board adopted Decision No. 124, suspending the anti-dumping measure on Chinese titanium dioxide pigments (EAEU code 3206 11 000 0) until 10 August 2027 inclusive. The decision took effect on 3 October; until then, EAEU customs do not collect the 14.27–16.25% duty. Kazakh paint, plastics and paper makers buying the pigment from China benefit. The measure is suspended, not repealed: a review is still under way, and Shandong Dawn Titanium has been removed from the list of price undertakings.

UBTECH Robotics and NERO Group are setting up robot production in the Park of Innovative Technologies SEZ in Almaty. NERO Group CEO Yerlan Nabiyev told a 25 September forum that educational kits go into production in October, up to 50,000 a year, and that service and humanoid robot localisation starts in Q2 2027 at 1,000 units a year. He put investment at about $440 million, $340 million of it reportedly a technology transfer fee; the figure has not been officially published. It is UBTECH's first own plant outside China.

The Akmola Region akimat and China’s SUNGROW Renewable Development (Sungrow group) signed on 25 September 2026 at the Kazakhstan–China Investment Forum in Almaty to build three wind plants totaling 450 MW, with investment of up to about USD 500 million. The akimat press service says construction is planned to start in October 2026 (2026–2028); land is registered, design estimates ready and state expertise passed. For Chinese renewables investors, this follows 221 MW of projects in Arshaly District in 2023.

Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan in Almaty rolled out the first about 60 OMODA and JAECOO vehicles in September 2026. At the Kazakhstan–China Investment Forum, Astana Motors’ CEO said the brands target about 2,000 units by year-end and about 10,000 in 2027; plant investment is about KZT 215 billion. A technical licensing deal with Chery Holding was signed in Shanghai on 16 July 2026. For Chinese OEMs and parts suppliers, the figures mark localization timing and volume.

On 25 September at the Kazakhstan–China forum in Almaty, Samruk-Energy, China Energy Overseas Investment and SANY Renewable's overseas investment arm signed an agreement to jointly develop a wind project of up to 1 GW in Zhetysu region: two 500 MW wind farms, two 150 MW/300 MWh storage systems and roughly 800 km of 500 kV lines. The agreement runs for three years and may be extended; investment and timing were not disclosed.

Kazakh Invest signed an agreement with Silk Road Finance Corporation at the Kazakhstan-China Investment Forum in Almaty to set up an investment fund on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) platform to finance priority projects. Fund size, shareholdings, the manager and first projects have not been announced.

SnowValley Food Kazakhstan Group Holdings Ltd., linked to China's Snow Valley, was registered at the AIFC on 30 September 2026, with holding and potato-processing activities. It ties to an April memorandum with Pavlodar region: processing 100,000–200,000 tonnes of potatoes a year, quick-frozen fries, a breeding centre and logistics, with investment estimated at $100–200 million. Site and timeline are not yet announced.

The Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) said on 7 October that bonds ATBNb3 of Altyn Bank, a subsidiary of China CITIC Bank, begin trading on its main board on 8 October. The issue totals 100 billion tenge, runs from 24 September 2026 to 24 September 2029 and pays a 16.5% annual coupon twice a year. At the 24 September placement, 12 participants placed active bids of about 106.2 billion tenge, or 106.2% of the offer, and the issue was fully sold. It is the first tranche of a 200 billion tenge bond programme, underwritten by Halyk Finance and Centras Securities.

On 7 September the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan completed its second sovereign panda bond on China's onshore market for RMB 6.6 billion: a three-year tranche of RMB 5 billion at 1.82% and a five-year tranche of RMB 1.6 billion at 1.95%. Astana International Exchange announced the listing on 10 September. CICC was lead manager; CCB, ICBC, the Export-Import Bank of China and Bank of China were joint leads; Teniz Capital was local manager. The debut RMB 3.4 billion three-year note at 1.9% priced on 26 May and listed on AIX in June.

Kazakhstan's Consul General in Shanghai, Nurlan Akoshkarov, met with Shanghai Mayor Zhu Zhongming. Both sides expressed willingness to strengthen friendly ties and expand mutually beneficial cooperation between Kazakhstan's regions and the Yangtze River Delta, including Shanghai as well as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui.

At the “Aqmola Invest” platform in Astana, the Aqmola Region akimat, Kazakhstan’s TauKen Group, and China’s Changzhou Chenwei International Trading (Chenwei Group) signed a trilateral cooperation memorandum to advance Chinese companies’ investment projects in Kazakhstan. The cooperation builds on documents signed in June 2026 and covers 8 joint projects.

Kazakh National University plans to establish three joint research centers with Chinese partners focusing on artificial intelligence, alternative energy, and data storage. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy will coordinate initiatives in the energy sector, and the cooperation also plans to test AI models at operating energy facilities. The investment amount and launch timeline have not been disclosed.