According to cross-border media reports, Tencent invested approximately US$518 million in Kazakhstan’s “super app” Kaspi.kz (approximately 3.2% equity), entering the Central Asia market for the first time. The industry believes that this will provide payment and platform infrastructure support for Chinese cross-border sellers, and facilitate the export of 3C accessories, small appliances, home furnishings and other categories to Kazakhstan.
Number:Central Asia The largest e-commerce market
- Kazakhstan has a population of approximately 20.3 million and an Internet penetration rate of over 92%. The scale of retail e-commerce in 2025 will be approximately 3.8 trillion tenge, and the proportion of e-commerce in retail sales has rapidly increased to more than 14%;
- Kaspi.kz integrates e-commerce, payment, installment and life services, accounting for about 60% of Kazakhstan’s e-commerce share, with about 13 million monthly active users and over 360,000 sellers on the entire platform;
- Household products, home textiles, and small household appliances are the top sales categories on the platform, which are also the advantage areas of China's supply chain.
Want to put it on the shelves? Get these things right first
Kaspi usually requires a local Kazakhstan entity (ТОО/ИП) to settle in and open a local account, with a commission of about 5%-15%; starting from 2026, circulating goods must complete the national commodity catalog registration and obtain the GS1 Kazakhstan local EAN-13 barcode; furniture, electronics and other categories also involve EAC certification and import customs clearance. It is recommended that Qingdao enterprises take the route of "differentiated product selection + branding" to avoid head-on competition with low-price distribution platforms.
Information sources: cross-border industry reports such as AMZ123, Yien.com, and Chuhai.com, as well as Kazakhstan e-commerce market data (2026). Specific policies are subject to the latest official regulations.
Connect with Central Asia overseas resources Consult Qingdao Furniture Association