A Study Into Agricultural Trade Between Kazakhstan And Xinjiang,China

Following the steady globalization of the world’s economy,economic exchange and trade between China and other countries have become an ever more common phenomenon.Xinjiang relies on its advantageous environment and abundant natural resources to cultivate a variety of unique agricultural products.It is not only famous throughout the globe for being the largest agricultural province in China,but is also known as one of the world’s six largest geographical belts for fruit production,a crucial region for animal husbandry and the largest producer of sugar beet and commercial cotton in both China and even in the world.Agricultural cooperation between Kazakhstan and China is growing stronger by the day and it is for this reason that Xinjiang,being a neighboring region with a shared border of 1738 km with Kazakhstan,has come to play a vital role in the trade of agricultural products between the two nations.As the largest landlocked country in the world,Kazakhstan has a vast territory and is abundant in rich resources.It has a typical continental climate and quite an excellent set of conditions for the development of the agriculture sector,which comprises mainly of farming and animal husbandry.It is of particular note that agriculture in Xinjiang and Kazakhstan are both complementary to each other,bringing about the possibility to reap mutual benefits and a strong potential for future cooperation.This paper consists of a total of five sections:Section One describes the background and significance of research,followed by a discussion of the related literature.Section Two analyses the scale and structure of agricultural trade between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang,China and examines the true practicality of carrying out agricultural trade between the two nations.This is achieved through the analysis of a series of indexes,such as the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index(RCA),the Intra-Industry Trade Index(IIT)and the Trade Complementarity Index(TCI).Section Three analyses the opportunities and challenges that the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the birth ofKazakhstan as an independent nation has brought to agricultural trade.Section Four uses the measurement software ‘Eview 7.2’ to establish a multivariate regression model through the selection of panel data from Xinjiang and Central Asian countries between 2006-2015.The model shows that explanatory variables,such as a country’s total GDP,freight distance between the two nations and whether or not a country is a member of the World Trade Organization(WTO)can greatly affect agricultural trade between Xinjiang and Central Asia.From these results,one can make further predictions about the potential for conducting agricultural trade between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang,China.Section Five lists a range of targeted suggestions for the problems which may be faced during agricultural trade between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang,China.Through a series of investigations,this paper not only comes to the conclusion that the volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Xinjiang,China is increasing at a rapid rate,but also that the two nations’ agricultural sectors are both complementary to each other.Although both nations have huge potential for the promotion of agricultural trade,there is still room for improvement.