Astana, 10 November. The cross Year of Culture of Kazakhstan and China has ended in Astana: about 40 events were held in the two countries over the year, and a Chinese Cultural Centre is due to open in the capital before year-end, the Ministry of Culture and Information said.
The year was formally closed at the Kalibek Kuanyshbayev Kazakh National Music and Drama Theatre: guests were shown a concert by performers of the two countries and a themed exhibition. Those present included Minister of Culture and Information Arman Kyrykbayev, China’s chargé d’affaires in Kazakhstan Cheng Kefan, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issagaliyev, diplomats and cultural figures.
Kyrykbayev recalled the thousand-year history of good-neighbourliness and the Great Silk Road that link Kazakhstan and China, and said the cross year gave extra impetus to humanitarian ties. He called the end of the year “the start of new interesting initiatives and joint projects”. Cheng Kefan stressed the importance of further developing cultural and humanitarian ties and noted that next year marks 35 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Chinese side, he said, is ready to deepen cooperation in culture, tourism, youth policy, science and education.
The ministry names several events from the year’s programme. An exhibition, “Culture of the Nomads of the Great Steppe”, was held at a museum in Zhejiang province, a joint exhibition with the Shanghai Museum of Art Collections in Almaty, and Beijing marked National Dombra Day, Abai Day and the 180th anniversary of the akyn Zhambyl Zhabayev. Cultural centres became an important line of work: the Kazakhstan Cultural Centre in Beijing already serves as a platform introducing Chinese audiences to the country’s culture, while the Chinese Cultural Centre in Astana, the ministry expects, will open before the end of the year.
The concert featured Medet Shotabayev, Rukhiya Baidukenova, the Birlik dance ensemble, the dombra ensemble of the Kulyash Baiseitova Kazakh National University of Arts, and soloists of the Ningbo Song and Dance Theatre Zhao Lu and Xu Yongjia. A special place in the programme went to the story of the friendship between Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov and Chinese composer Xian Xinghai: a choreographic staging and a photo exhibition were devoted to it.
The humanitarian rapprochement comes against a background of fast-growing trade. Trade between Kazakhstan and China in the first nine months of 2026 came to 43.3 billion dollars, 21.9% more than a year earlier, the Ministry of Trade and Integration reported. That is about 89% of the whole of 2025, when turnover reached 48.7 billion dollars.
What it means: The Year of Culture is over, but the ministry calls it the start of a new stage: the nearest concrete step is the opening of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Astana before year-end, and the nearest date is the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2027. The year itself is measured by the number of events, about 40; how many people attended and what joint projects are planned, the ministry did not say.
Who benefits: Cultural figures and audiences in both countries: they have gained venues, exhibitions and joint productions. The centres, in the ministry’s words, became one of the important lines of cooperation.
Background: Xian Xinghai was a Chinese composer, author of the “Yellow River” cantata. After the Great Patriotic War began he could not return home and stayed in evacuation in Alma-Ata, where composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov helped him. Xian Xinghai lived in the Baikadamov family from autumn 1942 to March 1944, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda writes. Their friendship is the subject of the film “The Composer”, the first Kazakh-Chinese co-produced feature, released in Kazakhstan in June 2019, Tengrinews reported.
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