China's Belt and Road sparks a battle of the breadbaskets

New infrastructure helps ex-Soviet grain exporters reach Asian markets

20171127 Kazakh grain

A worker shovels wheat in Kazakhstan's Akmola region. The country aims to develop its agriculture with China.

HISASHI KANAO, Nikkei staff writer, and NAUBET BISENOV, Contributing writer

TOKYO/ALMATY, Kazakhstan China's regionwide infrastructure drive is quickly proving to be a game changer in the grain trade.

The shift in the landscape was apparent when the Kazakh agriculture minister visited Beijing in early November. "Kazakhstan is willing to work with China and cement bilateral cooperation for common agricultural development," Askar Myrzakhmetov, who doubles as deputy prime minister, told Chinese Agriculture Minister Han Changfu on Nov. 7.

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