#153: Trading With China

According to the official Chinese statistics, the trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and China is around $1 billion, while our government puts it at $289 million. The Kyrgyz government met with their counterparts from Xinjiang (China's western province) to discuss the trade issues.

Where is $711 million? Corruption resulting from poor accountability and lack of transparency is the cause. This striking difference ends up in the pockets of traders, who lower the actual amount of goods being imported from China in order to avoid paying the tariffs, and of customs officials, who agree to register for a kickback. As a result, it is rumored that positions of customs officials on a border post cost from $5000 to $20000.

You can read more about trade between China and Kyrgyzstan here.