Uzbekistan deepens Afghanistan trade ties as it eyes China corridor alternatives

Uzbek government data shows that Afghanistan has become one of Uzbekistan's ten largest trading partners, with total bilateral trade reaching $915.8 million in early 2026. During the Afghanistan‑Uzbekistan Business Forum, officials signed 22 trade agreements worth over $200 million, and the Taliban announced a cumulative total of 90 agreements and memoranda of understanding valued at more than $1.4 billion since the start of the year. Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojayev and Afghan Chamber of Commerce chairman Sayed Karim Hashemi pledged to raise annual trade to $5 billion, highlighting Uzbekistan’s export of electricity, petroleum products, machinery and food, and Afghanistan’s agricultural exports.

At the same time, Uzbekistan is advancing a dual‑track trade‑route strategy. While it continues to promote a long‑discussed trans‑Afghan corridor linking Central Asian markets to Pakistani ports, persistent security uncertainties in Afghanistan have prompted Tashkent and neighboring states, including Kyrgyzstan, to develop China‑based overland corridors as a more reliable alternative. The Chinese corridor is seen as a pragmatic fallback to ensure access to the Indian Ocean via Pakistan, shaping regional infrastructure investment for the decade ahead.