China’s exports to Uzbekistan have doubled since the start of the war in Ukraine, reaching almost $1.5 bn between January and August 2025, according to senior Brookings fellow and former chief economist of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Robin Brooks. He cited official figures from China’s customs authority.
Brooks explained that the bulk of these shipments are not intended for Uzbekistan itself but represent transit flows to Russia via Central Asia. He has long tracked unusual spikes in exports to the region and argues that the trend cannot be explained by domestic demand, pointing instead to re-exports to Russia following Western trade restrictions.
Writing on X, Brooks noted:
«China’s exports to Uzbekistan have doubled since Russia invaded Ukraine. China’s transshipments via Central Asia are up massively this year, even as its direct exports to Russia are down. So more transshipment, less direct trade. Beijing remains Putin’s biggest enabler by far…»
China's exports to Uzbekistan have doubled since Russia invaded Ukraine. China's transshipments via Central Asia are up massively this year, even as its direct exports to Russia are down. So more transshipment, less direct trade. Beijing remains Putin's biggest enabler by far… pic.twitter.com/oDEd1Mlvbr
— Robin Brooks (@robin_j_brooks) September 19, 2025
He and his colleagues have previously highlighted in analytical notes that exports to Central Asia and the Caucasus have risen sharply since 2022, mirroring Russia’s search for new supply routes.
Kursiv also reports that Uzbekistan’s trade volumes continued to climb this year, with the country reporting $51.4 bn in turnover for the January–August 2025 period. The figure represents a nearly 20% increase from a year earlier, official statistics show.
