数据上，中国在稀土产业的主导尤被点名：约占全球稀土开采 60%，并控制约 90% 的加工；这也让中亚的稀土潜力、以及油、气、金、铜、铀等资源更受关注。中国国家主席习近平 6 月访问哈萨克并宣布向中亚提供 15 亿元人民币（约 2.12 亿美元）无偿援助，凸显北京以资金与倡议（如「一带一路」）加深影响力。
中亚国家自 1991 年独立以来，维持并强化主权是一贯目标，因此也把日本与西方视为平衡俄中影响的出口。峰会预计建立以日本人工智慧支援采矿的合作框架，并可能宣布协助物流网路；但中亚内陆、缺乏海运出海口且需经俄、中、阿富汗或伊朗转运，加上日本商社在追求资本效率下更审慎投资，使基建与制造业布局难度上升。
Japan will host its first summit with the five Central Asian states on Friday and Saturday, signaling the region’s rising geopolitical weight driven by oil and critical minerals. Sitting between Europe and East Asia and maintaining strong economic ties with Russia and China, the former Soviet republics draw Japanese and Western attention partly to prevent the region from falling wholly into Moscow and Beijing’s orbit.
Key figures highlight why minerals dominate the agenda: China accounts for about 60% of global rare-earth mining and controls roughly 90% of processing, raising concern about supply leverage. In June, Xi Jinping visited Kazakhstan and announced 1.5 billion yuan (about $212 million) in nonrepayable grant assistance for Central Asian countries, underscoring Beijing’s expanding influence, including via the Belt and Road Initiative.
Since independence in 1991, Central Asian governments have prioritized preserving sovereignty, making engagement with Japan and other partners a strategic outlet to balance Russia and China. Japan is expected to propose a framework using Japanese AI to develop mining and to support logistics networks, but landlocked geography, limited infrastructure, and more cautious Japanese investment—amid corporate pushes for capital efficiency—make large-scale infrastructure and manufacturing expansion difficult.
