How China is increasing its influence in central Asia as part of global plans to offer an alternative to the west

The Kazakh port of Aktau will be useful in the expansion of trade routes in the region. Matyas Rehak/Shutterstock

As G7 leaders were preparing for their recent summit in Japan, China’s president Xi Jinping hosted his central Asian counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Central Asia is critical to China’s attempts to build an alternative to the US-led liberal order that is unquestionably dominated by Beijing and in which Russia will, at best, be a junior partner.