According to him, the Minister of Finance previously posted on Facebook that Kyrgyzstan has not received new government loans from China since 2020. This raises the question of whether the financing of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is considered external debt.

Daniyar Amangeldiev stated that the funds for the railway’s construction are being considered separately, as it is a commercial project that must pay for itself through its own operations.

«This is one of the self-sustaining commercial projects. Each of the three countries has a stake: China owns 51 percent, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan own 24.5 percent each. After the funds are repaid, the project will become fully owned by Kyrgyzstan,» he said.

The First Deputy Cabinet Chairman also noted that Kyrgyzstan has significantly reduced its debt to China in recent years. According to him, it previously stood at approximately $1.8 billion, of which approximately $500 million has already been repaid.

«The debt to China once constituted approximately 47.5 percent of our external debt. Now this figure has dropped to approximately 27 percent,» Daniyar Amangeldiev said.

According to him, Kyrgyzstan’s largest external creditors today remain not only China, but also the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other international financial institutions.

The remaining debt to China amounts to approximately $1 billion and is being repaid according to the approved schedule, the official added.

In May 2026, a parliamentary committee approved a $305 million concessional loan from China to finance Kyrgyzstan’s share in the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The shares of the joint project company are distributed as follows: 51 percent belongs to the Chinese side, 24.5 percent each to the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Uzbekistan.