Kyrgyzstan doesn’t make global headlines often, but its central location between China, Russia, and Europe makes it a necessary partner for new developments in Central Asia. How does far-flung Germany fit into the picture as Kyrgz leadership ramps up its infrastructure?

The China-Central Asia summit demonstrates China’s more proactive diplomatic strategy regarding Central Asia. This is important now because the Russia-Ukraine war has left Russia with insufficient capacity to preserve order in Central Asia. Stability is the summit’s central aim.

Relations with Central Asian countries have long been a significant part of China’s international diplomacy. And Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently traveled to the region to advance diplomatic relations, participate in the Samarkand Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and promote the development of the SCO.

Third high-level meeting of Afghan officials, together with the foreign ministers of neighboring countries, reflected China’s strategic commitment to the greater Middle East region and charted a course that can lead to the end of chaos.

China’s economic rise and active investment sector has grown its influence in Central Asia - but money alone is not enough to change the complex realities in the region’s domestic politics.

China and Russia have spent over 20 years in direct partnership with many of Central Asia’s nations, and there the Taliban’s new government fits in is causing a major commotion at their cooperative table.

The impact of the Afghan Taliban on regional security is limited. But China may nevertheless want to consider economic means to encourage the stability and development in Central Asia, including construction of a highway from Kashgar to Kabul.

China’s ambitious foreign investments have attracted all kinds of attention - supporters point out its material benefits, while critics emphasize the lopsided power dynamic of Chinese capital. In Central Asia, economic and ethnic tensions in the mining sector have put China’s business practices under scrutiny.

China has proposed a three-phase plan for resolving the Rohingya crisis, starting with a ceasefire in Myanmar's Rakhine State so that refugees can return

Despite the uncharacteristic competitiveness of the upcoming Kyrgyz presidential election, both candidates have similar foreign policy goals: rapprochement with Russia and deepening financial ties to China.