The Chinese Factor in Kazakhstan

This article is an exploration of the place of Kazakhstan in China's contemporary policy, economy and foreign trade. The specific features of an interaction between China and Kazakhstan in different periods of the current history (1991-2018) are shown. The authors reveal Chinese priorities and tactics both in Kazakhstan and the post-Soviet Central Asian republics. The article finds out factors that are favorable to the Chinese-Kazakh rapprochement as well as contradictions (such as disputed territories, trans-boundary rivers, national-ethnic problem) which complicate interstate relations between China and Kazakhstan. A special attention is drawn to the phenomenon of anti-Chinese sentiments (sinophobia) in the Kazakh society.