Belt and Road Initiative's and Central Asia's Challenges

The year 2023 will mark the 10th anniversary of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). During this period, it has significantly transformed the geo-economic landscape in most Eurasian regions. Central Asia has been and remains the central focus of China's initiative. At the same time, further implementation of the BRI has faced several difficulties. First of all, global challenges have created severe obstacles to the BRI. The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing confrontation between the United States and China have negatively affected the implementation of numerous projects. The BRI has also faced challenges in Central Asia, especially in Kazakhstan. In addition to economic benefits, China's increased presence has also led to an increase in Sinophobia. On the contrary, there are also growing concerns on the Chinese side about the safety of its investments. The political upheavals and mass protests in Central Asia in 2022 have heightened Beijing's anxiety and forced it to become more actively involved in its security processes. In the long term, it is clear that Central Asian countries can become part of the Global Security initiative promoted by Beijing. Despite the difficulties, China has shown a willingness to promote the BRI. Central Asia will remain a testbed for approbation of new mechanisms of Beijing's foreign economic strategy. Finally, the case of Kazakhstan shows that Beijing's actions lead to a large-scale change in the usual geo-economic landscape in the world. Thus, we are witnessing the increasingly distinctive shape of the Multipolar World Order 2.0, in which China's BRI plays an important role. By pursuing a balancing policy, Kazakhstan is trying to take advantage of the BRI on the one hand and minimise the impact of global and regional risks on the other.