On July 11, 2025, the AIFC DAY (Astana International Financial Center Roadshow) — a featured segment of the “The Tailor-Made Finance & Innovation Visit in Chengdu” — was successfully held in Chengdu as part of the 2nd Chengdu Finance Week, organized by the China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu. The event brought together government representatives, financial institutions, enterprises, and academic experts from both China and Kazakhstan. Through high-level dialogues, institutional roadshows, and research visits, participants engaged in deep exchanges to explore new opportunities in cross-border investment and financing. The event highlighted the significant cooperation potential between the two countries in sectors such as industry, finance, and cross-border investment, while injecting new momentum into regional economic collaboration under the Belt and Road Initiative framework.
During the visit of the foreign delegation to Chengdu, Fengchao Wang, Mayor of the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, met with Renat Bekturov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), and his delegation.
Mayor Wang welcomed the Kazakh delegation and provided a brief overview of Chengdu’s economic and social development. Mayor Wang expressed hope that both sides would leverage the empowering role of finance to deepen pragmatic cooperation in fields such as high technology and green, low-carbon development, and work together to achieve higher-level mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
Governor Renat Bekturov expressed his commitment to actively building a platform for communication and cooperation with Chengdu, attracting more enterprises to invest and grow in the city, and advancing mutual benefit and cooperation to new heights.
The meeting was also attended by municipal leaders including Junjie Cao, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Chengdu Municipal Committee, Executive Deputy Mayor of the Chengdu Municipal People’s Government; Wenqiao Zhao, Director of Chengdu High tech Zone Management Committee; and Maolu Chen, Secretary General of Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, Secretary of Chongzhou Municipal Committee.
Focusing on Financial Cooperation, Charting a Collaborative Blueprint
In his keynote speech, Renat Bekturov, Governor of AIFC, he emphasized Kazakhstan’s stable economic performance and continued growth as Central Asia’s largest economy and the world’s ninth-largest country. He noted that the financial sector has played a critical role in driving this growth and remains in a phase of continued expansion. Renat Bekturov shared that Kazakhstan currently manages assets totaling USD 2.5 billion, up from USD 1 billion in 2018. Its sovereign net foreign assets amount to USD 90 billion, accounting for 40% of the country’s GDP—significantly higher than the 7% median among peer countries.
Focusing on topics such as infrastructure investment, financial services, and technology empowerment, Timur Onzhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Baiterek National Managing Holding, Sadvakkas Seitzhanov, CEO of KTZ Express China, Roza Jamulbek, VP of CICC International Asia – Australia Region; Chunyu Liu, Deputy General Manager, International Division of the China Construction Bank Sichuan Branch, engaged in in-depth discussions. Participants noted significant complementarity in energy, agriculture, and digital economy sectors, advocating for innovative financial instruments to advance bilateral cooperation.
In recent years, Chengdu has actively advanced cooperation with Kazakhstan in cross-border investment and financing, industrial partnerships, and financial innovation, supporting western Chinese enterprises in conducting financing activities via the Astana International Exchange. At the event, the AIFC and the China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu officially signed MoU. The two parties signed a strategic MoU to deepen cooperation in China-Kazakhstan financial research and support Chinese and Kazakh enterprises’ global expansion.
Meanwhile, the AIX also reached a cooperation consensus with the China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu, with both sides committing to jointly promote greater connectivity between the Chinese and Kazakh capital markets.
Exploring New Pathways for Industry-Finance Integration, Opening a New Chapter of Cooperation
Against the backdrop of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Sichuan has strengthened ties with Central Asian nations. From frequent high-level exchanges to steady progress in trade and investment cooperation, Sichuan Province is promoting friendship through cities, continuing to advance the development of sister cities in Central Asia, and exploring new paths for industry-finance integration.
During the event, the Kazakh delegation conducted in-depth visits to several landmark sites across Chengdu to gain a comprehensive understanding of the city’s financial ecosystem, technological innovation, and cultural heritage. The delegation first visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where they experienced the city’s achievements in ecological conservation and gained insight into Chengdu’s “Park City” development philosophy. They then proceeded to the Chunxi Road commercial district for a business field study, focusing on benchmark projects such as the International Finance Square (IFS) and Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li. Through on-site visits and in-depth discussions, the delegation explored the innovation vitality and growth potential of Chengdu’s consumer market.
The delegation conducted in-depth visits to Bailuwan Science and Technology Eco Park, HarmonyOS Ecosystem Innovation Center, and Jiaozi Financial Business District, Innovative Equipment Institute of Beijing Institute of Technology in Sichuan Tianfu New Area. At Bailuwan, the delegation received a detailed briefing on the park’s integrated “Technology + Finance + Ecology” development model. At the HarmonyOS Center, they learned about the system’s real-world applications in smart cities and the industrial internet. The tour of the Jiaozi Financial District provided the delegation with a firsthand view of Chengdu’s advancements in sci-tech finance, digital finance, and green finance. At the Innovative Equipment Institute of Beijing Institute of Technology in Sichuan Tianfu New Area, the delegation had in-depth exchanges on the innovations and application practices of millimeter-wave radar, natural disaster monitoring, prevention and control, and other featured fields.
This series of activities under Chengdu Finance Week not only established an efficient dialogue platform for China-Kazakhstan financial cooperation but also created pragmatic opportunities for enterprise collaboration between the two countries. Moving forward, the AIFC and China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu will leverage these outcomes to deepen collaboration in international financial hub development, capital markets, green finance, and tech incubation, driving high-quality regional economic growth under the Belt and Road Initiative.
