Author: Rahmatullayev, Shohruh

Annotation: China is one of the largest neighboring countries with the longest border with Central Asia. The region plays an important role in China's "One Space, One Road" initiative. The fact that China has a direct border with 3 Central Asian countries increases its ongoing interest in the region. From this point of view, over the past 20 years, Chinese investments in the Central Asian region in various areas have been met with great interest. In fact, China has a direct border with the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, there are tendencies of China's active cooperation with these countries in all areas, and its influence is still great. In addition, China is the main economic partner of Uzbekistan, which is located in the center of Central Asia and does not have a border with China. A striking example of this is that in this year's statistics, China made the most investments in the Uzbek industry, that is, among the importing countries of Uzbekistan, and recorded the highest export rate. In addition, there are mutually beneficial trade relations with another country that does not have a direct border - Turkmenistan. From this point of view, China's policy towards Central Asia can be promising and significant in comparison with other major centers of power. This article highlights China's approaches to soft power in Central Asia based on a SWOT analysis.

Keywords: “OBOR”, “soft power”, “hard power”, Confucius Institutes, “Cultural Diplomacy”, China-Central Asia Cooperation Forum, cultural exhibitions, sinization (latent), “debt trap diplomacy”, Chinese migration.

Pages in journal: 1312 - 1322