Recently, the organizing committee of the Xinjiang Mining Expo announced that, in 2025, the expo will introduce a new sub-forum dedicated to discussing the strategic development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and its mining industry. This sub-forum aims to further explore the profound impact of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway on the development of the mining sector.

Hu Yaoguang, Secretary-General of the Xinjiang Mining Expo Organizing Committee, introduced that the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway is a landmark project under the Belt and Road Initiative jointly built by China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and represents a strategic initiative for enhancing connectivity between China and Central Asia. In 2024, Kyrgyzstan ranked as China’s seventh-largest source of gold imports. China also imports from Kyrgyzstan antimony, copper, and tin ores, as well as raw materials such as copper, aluminum, and lead metals. At the same time, China exports specialized machinery—including conveyors, elevators, excavators, and drilling rigs. In terms of geological exploration, Kyrgyzstan carried out large-scale gold exploration activities during the 1970s and 1980s. However, starting in the 1990s, due to a lack of funding, geological exploration efforts sharply declined, and exploration work on some ore deposits was eventually halted. There remains significant potential to further invest in these deposits and increase their proven reserves. A portion of the primary gold deposits are currently classified as prospective resources; through additional exploration efforts, they have the potential to be reclassified as controlled resources. Therefore, Kyrgyzstan has an urgent need to step up its investment in geological exploration. Uzbekistan is the world’s seventh-largest producer of gold and is also a major producer of natural gas, coal, copper, petroleum, silver, and uranium. It has strong demands for economic development and cooperation in the mining sector. China possesses advanced geological exploration technologies and mature experience in mine construction. As a result, there are broad prospects for cooperation between China and both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in areas such as geological exploration and mining development.

It is reported that the Xinjiang Mining Expo will be held from July 18 to 20 at the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center. Concurrent with the expo, a Silk Road Mining Cooperation Forum and Expo, the launch ceremony of the “National Top Ten Mining Provinces (Regions) New-Generation Productivity Cooperation Alliance,” a global debut ceremony for cutting-edge technologies and equipment, and the Global Smart Mining Equipment Innovation Competition will also take place. In addition, the “Partnership Alliance” initiative will be implemented, during which participating organizations from the sub-forum on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway and Mining Development Strategy will jointly establish an information platform for multi-party cooperation and exchange.