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On October 13 Deputy PM Serik Zhumangarin said Kazakhstan will keep the Tax Code’s regime split, with B2B on the general regime and B2C on special regimes, and will not lift the ban on deducting costs paid to simplified-declaration suppliers (Article 286, subparagraph 16); the code needs at least another 18 months. Nine-month tax receipts reached KZT 19.3 trillion, up 18.2%, with VAT up 37.3%. He said the reform has yielded KZT 3 trillion, expects at least KZT 3.6 trillion for the year, and said about 37,000 more companies are now VAT-registered. Atameken’s 8% B2B rate idea is on hold.

On 15 October the World Bank presented its Middle Corridor report at the New Silk Way forum in Astana. A Chongqing-Budapest container takes 47-50 days door to door via the corridor and about 45 by sea; with investment and reforms, the fastest route could take 18-19 days by 2040. The bill: at least $25bn for infrastructure and about $30bn of enabling investment, for a 3.3% (about $58bn) lift to nine countries' GDP and some 2 million jobs. With 75% of 16 critical bottlenecks already being tackled, the Bank targets paperwork: a single digital T3 document and a joint rail-shipping operator.

At TransLogistica Kazakhstan in Astana, FESCO signed four agreements: with Kostanay feed-flour exporter Agroplanet (over 140,000 tonnes exported in 2025, mostly by rail to China) to ship more to China and reach South-East Asia; with IFC COLOS to swap container flatcars for trains via Dostyk and Altynkol; and with TLC Zhetysu and Terminal Cargo Handling on terminals near Almaty. Two days earlier the group added Urumqi to Caravan Shuttle: four trains since late August, nine days on average, with at least one a month planned. No volumes or financial terms were disclosed.

The Development Bank of Kazakhstan has approved up to CNY 814 million for Altyn Dala Energy to build phase one of a 1 GW renewables project: 60 MW of solar for Kazatomprom and 185 MW for KEGOC in Shieli district, Kyzylorda region. Phase one costs CNY 1.2 billion, so the bank covers about 67.8%. The loan runs up to 15 years at China 5Y LPR + 1.57%, floating – about 5.07% with the LPR at 3.50% on September 20. Financing opens in 2026. Beneficiaries are Ulan Dzhaparov (75%) and Samruk-Energo (25%). EPC, equipment and tariff are undisclosed.

At an oil and gas machine-building forum in Uralsk on October 16, operators and Kazakh manufacturers signed contracts worth about KZT 320bn plus cooperation memorandums. The Ministry of Energy says TCO, NCOC and KPO account for about 70% of sector procurement; in 2025 they bought KZT 2.8trn of goods, works and services (+4%), with local content at 56%, or KZT 1.6trn. About 800 people attended and some 40 local manufacturers exhibited; Silleno and KMG PetroChem also presented catalogues. A Tengiz local content memorandum was signed. Signatories, terms and products were not disclosed.

On October 16 China's commerce and science ministries proposed adding 40 technologies to the export control catalogue: 23 in AI, 12 in solar, 5 in biomedicine; 14 to be banned, 26 licensed. Comments close November 15. Pre-export registration already applies, including deals not yet closed. Products are excluded and API or SaaS access is not a model export, but local deployment abroad is; solar production-line exports need a licence. Kazakhstan, a founding member of the World AI Cooperation Organization, may get promised facilitation; the rules are unpublished.

Resolution No. 890 of 10 October requires nationals of 57 visa-free countries, EAEU states and countries with visa-free agreements to hold an electronic permit for entry and transit. A trial starts on 1 November at Aktau airport and four road crossings including Nurly Zhol, reaches the Astana and Almaty airports on 1 January 2027 and all crossings on 1 March, with no refusals; it is mandatory from 1 July 2027. It is free, valid 180 days, does not extend stays, and needs 72 hours lead time. Twenty-nine categories, including international truck drivers, are exempt. China is not named.

On 15 October 2026 Tokayev and Aliyev launched the Trans-Caspian fibre-optic line. Akorda says it is 380 km long, built by Kazakhtelecom and AzerTelecom, and will form part of a route linking Central Asia and China with Europe. Samruk-Kazyna adds: Aktau–Sumgayit, design capacity at least 400 Tbit/s, subsea laying finished 5 August 2026 via CaspiLink JV, also supporting the Ekibastuz Data Centre Valley.

Kursiv and infohub.kz reported on 16 October 2026 that Almaty Region akim Chingis Arinov met a Chinese delegation led by Tong Xiaojia, head of Nanjing’s Xuanwu district people’s government, at the Sokol complex in Ili district. Talks covered urban projects, production sites and a transport-logistics hub. Neither outlet reported signed agreements, investment amounts or launch dates.

Kazakhstan Today and BAQ.KZ (15 Oct 2026) reported Deputy Transport Minister Zhanibek Taizhanov at the 8th New Silk Way forum in Astana: cargo delays often stem from repeated data entry and paperwork, not missing kilometres. Kazakhstan proposes a unified digital framework on Smart Data Transport, mutual recognition of e-documents and joint AI use on China–Europe routes. It is a policy proposal, not an enacted regulation.

Inbusiness.kz and Zakon.kz (16 Oct 2026), citing Baiterek National Investment Holding, report that a delegation led by CEO Rustam Karagoishin held Beijing meetings with ICBC’s Liao Lin, China Development Bank’s Huang Zhiqiang and Bank of China’s Liu Chenggang on long-term financing for manufacturing, agribusiness, infrastructure and energy, and on preparing the holding’s debut offshore renminbi (dim sum) bond issue. No size, coupon or timetable was disclosed.

On 6 October Deputy PM Zhaslan Madiyev told the government that Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz will commission 186MW in 2027 and 109MW more in Q2 2028, 295MW in total, or about 30% of its 1GW potential. Land, an operator and GRES-1 power are secured and building has begun. The phases have not been broken down; only Kazakhtelecom's first 50MW facility has a firm date, June 2027. The $10bn Firebird package is a framework agreement plus a term sheet, not an investment contract. In July Kazakhtelecom signed a basic-principles agreement with China's Hengtong; no value was disclosed.

On 16 October, at the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, Kazakhstan joined the World Bank Group's Metals and Minerals Compact, the first Central Asian country to do so, according to the government. The 2026-2030 compact aims to mobilise up to $20bn for mining and metals by 2031, mostly company money, with the bank providing finance, advice and guarantees. Targets include exploration spending of $90 per sq km by 2029 and 1.2mt a year of copper by 2030; Subsoil Code amendments and a fiscal review are possible. The compact is not legally binding, and a results framework is due within six months.

On 16 October Samruk-Kazyna priced its first Dim Sum bond, raising CNH3bn: CNH2bn of three-year notes at 2.15% and CNH1bn of five-year notes at 2.30%. Orders topped three times the size; the notes trade on HKEX and AIX and settle on 23 October. Both coupons were 55bp inside initial guidance, worth roughly CNH16.5m a year in interest on a rough estimate. The three-year printed 3bp below the yield on the fund's April Panda bond and 35bp below Mashreq's three-year Dim Sum deal the same week. Issue prices and yields have not been disclosed.

On October 12 KazTransOil reported that in the first nine months of 2026 it transshipped 8.525 million tonnes of oil into the Atasu–Alashankou trunk line (+3% year on year); Kazakh oil exports on that route were 984 thousand tonnes (+26%). Throughput on the Kazakhstan–China Pipeline LLP system was 14.807 million tonnes (+2%). Consolidated oil transportation and products transshipment reached 35.809 million tonnes (+3%). Figures are from the company release and its KASE disclosure.

BI Group said on October 15 that its BI-Industrial unit has finished full-cycle EPC work on five of the 12 facilities at the Soda Ash plant in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl region, including a 658-hectare evaporation pond, a 25-hectare solid-waste store, a limestone crushing line rated at 1.2 million tonnes a year and an 8.7-hectare residential camp. Turkish-backed Qazaq Soda is the investor and China's CAMCE the general contractor. Phase one is designed for 500,000 tonnes of soda ash a year; the government says it is due for completion in Q4 2026. This is a contractor milestone, not plant start-up.

DBK project card: TOO Kazmeal LTD (North Kazakhstan) — CNY 45.0m pre-export credit line at 5.9% for 36 months from the line-opening agreement date, to buy wheat, barley, bran and meal for export feed flour. DBK funds the full amount; no borrower equity. Status: borrower fulfilling suspensive conditions — agreement not shown as signed; not a disbursement. Kursiv estimates about KZT 3bn at the National Bank rate (media conversion). Beneficiaries: ms. Xia Bing, mr. Pan Yu.

Kazakhstan’s Trade Ministry said on October 6 that projects in the Khorgos–Eastern Gate SEZ rose from 14 in 2022 to 69, and attracted investment from KZT 340bn to KZT 652.8bn. One of the largest items is the Kazakhstan–China International Industrial City, valued at KZT 330bn. The Zhetisu regional administration told local media the site covers about 1,000 ha, involves a Chinese partner, and is aimed for launch by end-2029.

Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna opened books on October 15 for offshore renminbi (CNH) notes in 3- and 5-year tranches, with initial price guidance around 2.70% and 2.85%. Settlement is set for October 23, with listings planned in Hong Kong and on AIX. Eleven of the 13 international banks named on the term sheet are Chinese. Final coupons and size will be fixed at pricing. In April the fund sold a debut RMB3bn three-year panda bond at 2.18%.

Kazakhstan's National Statistics Bureau said on October 15 that foreign trade turnover reached $102.96 billion in January–August 2026, up 12.8% in nominal terms, with exports at $60.39 billion and imports at $42.57 billion. Interfax-Kazakhstan reported the same total that day. By the bureau's preliminary figures, China took 17.6% of exports, behind Italy's 18%, and 29.8% of imports, behind Russia's 31%.