Beyond the Silk Road: Navigating the Complexities of Central Asia's Public Opinion on China

China has emerged as a major global partner of Central Asia, increasing volumes of trade, investment, and aid in the region. In the 1990s, China began extending its influence in Central Asia when countries there gained independence from the Soviet Union. Since then, China has engaged in regional integration through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the China Central Asia Summit, and it has sought to expand economic integration as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). State leaders in Central Asia have embraced China as a partner that brings economic opportunities and investment with few to no conditions or demands. Yet, as China's involvement in Central Asia has increased, citizens of these states have become aware of China’s presence, and thus concern over public perceptions became central to China’s foreign policy strategies to counter resentment, Sinophobia, and/or protests. Covering various aspects of public perceptions of China in Central Asia,1 this multi-year study within and among the countries offers a comprehensive and systematic overview of how Central Asian citizens perceive China, how perceptions have changed over time, and what might be causing any such change.

This report fills a gap in the existing literature by exploring questions related to public opinions of China gleaned from the 14 waves of the Central Asia Barometer Survey (CABS) performed between 2017 and 2023 across four Central Asian states: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.