Trade has plummeted, Chinese goods are disappearing from markets, and exports of China’s favorite Central Asian commodity – natural gas – have nosedived.
As the government pretends everything is normal, families are in a state of deepening anxiety over a perfect storm that could plunge the country into an unusually severe crisis.
Central Asia claims zero cases of coronavirus, but the economic symptoms are everywhere. This and more in our monthly briefing on Chinese business in the region.
In our monthly Russian business briefing: Uzbekistan dithers, Azerbaijan offers a backdoor to Europe, and the rocket that fell on Kazakhstan will not frustrate a new $1 billion test range.
What do these three things have in common: a Kyrgyz gold mine, a Malaysian Ponzi scheme, and canned camel milk? If you said the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing wants a word with you.
Last year Uzbekistan lifted a ban on individuals prospecting for gold. In a remote corner of Navoi province, locals and Chinese have not wasted time getting into business.