The region’s strategic value as a corridor of resilience is becoming harder to ignore
3-MIN READ3-MINEmil AvdalianiPublished: 8:30pm, 12 Apr 2026The war in Iran is not just a regional crisis. It is reshaping global energy flows, disrupting shipping routes and forcing governments to reassess the vulnerability of their supply chains. For China, the conflict has exposed an increasingly urgent problem: the risks of heavy reliance on maritime energy imports from the Gulf.The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the world’s most critical chokepoints, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil and gas under normal conditions. Any sustained disruption – whether through direct conflict or rising insurance and security costs – has immediate consequences for Asian economies, none more so than China.While Beijing is unlikely to reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern energy in the short term, the current crisis is accelerating a longer-term shift towards more resilient, diversified and overland alternatives. In that recalibration, Central Asia is becoming more important. Within the region, Kazakhstan stands out as the key partner.AdvertisementThe foundation for this shift was already in place before this conflict. Trade between China and the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – has expanded rapidly in the past decade, exceeding US$100 billion in 2025.
