A New Format of Partnership with China
Kazakhstan is gradually turning into a platform where international technology companies test joint digital projects of strategic importance for the entire Central Asian region. While cooperation with China used to be associated primarily with transport routes and industry, today the focus has shifted to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital payments, and data-processing infrastructure.
These changes became one of the main topics of the talks held during the visit of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Shanghai. As noted by the international business publication IntelliNews, the parties signed more than 70 agreements with a total value of about $15 billion, covering high-tech industries, transport, energy, and the financial sector.
Freedom Holding Corp. in the Spotlight
Individual projects were concluded by private companies capable of turning foreign technologies into working services for the local market. Among them is Freedom Holding Corp., whose shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker FRHC.
During the talks in China, the holding reached agreements with Alibaba Cloud, Ant Group, Tencent, Baidu, and Geely. Each of these companies is responsible for a separate area — cloud technologies, digital payments, artificial intelligence, autonomous transport, or electric mobility. Of particular interest is the integration of the Alipay and WeChat Pay payment solutions with Freedom Bank’s infrastructure. Once the project is complete, users in Kazakhstan will be able to pay for purchases in Chinese online stores directly in tenge through the Freedom SuperApp, while Chinese tourists will be able to use their familiar payment methods at points of sale in Kazakhstan.
Technology Becomes a New Export Industry
The growing interest in digital projects reflects a shift in Kazakhstan’s economic model. The country seeks to increase the share of high-tech exports by investing in computing capacity, telecommunications, and data centers. To achieve this, the state is simultaneously developing infrastructure and attracting international partners with advanced technologies.
This model is well illustrated by the Akashi Data Center project, currently under construction in Astana with funding from Freedom Holding Corp. Together with Alibaba Cloud, the Kazakhstani holding plans to develop the cloud services and computing capacity needed to run artificial intelligence. Another important partner for the site is China Mobile International, which is considering the facility as a future regional base for its cloud solutions.
From Local Services to an International Ecosystem
Cooperation with Chinese companies is a continuation of the course Freedom Holding Corp. has been pursuing for several years. The holding is gradually combining financial products, telecommunications, e-commerce, and cloud technologies into a single digital ecosystem. This approach makes it possible to roll out new services considerably faster than by developing each area separately.
This model is already reflected in the company’s financial results. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, Freedom Holding Corp.’s revenue grew to $2.19 billion, while net income rose to $153.3 million. The company operates in 22 countries; its banking division serves more than 5 million customers, and its brokerage business serves 858,000 investors. These figures are published in the holding’s official financial statements.
Another large-scale project concerns the development of computing infrastructure. Freedom Holding Corp. is participating in the creation of an AI Hub worth up to $2 billion, which will be built on NVIDIA architecture. The complex is expected to provide the computing power needed to train and run modern artificial intelligence models, as well as serve as a platform for developing digital products aimed at the Central Asian market.
The agreements reached in China logically complement this project. Alibaba Cloud is regarded as a partner for developing cloud services, Baidu as a supplier of autonomous-transport technology, Geely as a participant in building a network of electric-vehicle charging stations, and Ant Group and Tencent are helping to develop international payment services. The result is an ecosystem in which individual technologies reinforce one another.
The Next Stage — Foreign Markets
Freedom Holding views its new projects not only in terms of the domestic market. In Europe, the Freedom24 investment platform continues to expand, and in the summer of 2026 the holding filed an application for a banking license in France. The company’s management stated its readiness to invest about €500 million in creating a digital bank once regulatory approval is obtained.
Business development in Turkey is also continuing. The company has completed the acquisition of 99.32% of Turkish Bank’s shares. The holding now intends to combine banking, investment, and insurance products on a shared digital platform. This model has already proven effective in Kazakhstan, where users can access most services through a single mobile app.
Growing interest in digital technology is gradually changing Kazakhstan’s role in the region. While the country used to be seen mainly as a transit route between China and Europe, today it is increasingly becoming a territory for launching new technological solutions. Private companies gain the opportunity to scale international developments, while the state attracts investment into high-value-added industries.
Against this backdrop, Freedom Holding Corp. is becoming a participant in shaping new digital infrastructure. Its cooperation with China’s largest technology corporations shows that competition for regional markets is increasingly unfolding not around raw materials or logistics, but around data, software, cloud platforms, and artificial intelligence. These are the very areas likely to define the development of the Central Asian economy in the years ahead.