ALMATY (Satrapia) - The discrepancy in Kazakhstan’s trade statistics with China (PRC) amounted to $5.3 bln in 2020, said Marat Sultangaziev, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee (KGD) of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to preliminary data from the KGD, the amount of discrepancies between the figures published by Kazakhstan and China was $5.3 billion. At a press conference Sultangaziev said in this regard:

53% of the difference relates to Chinese goods transiting through Kazakhstan, which is reflected in the statistics of the People’s Republic of China as exports to Kazakhstan on the basis of crossing the first borders […], 20% relates to goods sold via Khorgos and postal parcels, which are reflected in the statistics of the PRC as exports to Kazakhstan, while in Kazakhstan they are treated in a simplified manner without declaration. The remaining 27%, or about $1.5 bln, in our view, is due to the undervaluation of the customs value by Kazakh importers.

According to him, the differences between the customs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the PRC in 2020 represented 45% of all customs statistics.

In addition, in order to reduce the gap, Kazakhstan has started to exchange online information on goods export declarations with the PRC. However, while the share of identified goods is 25%, the technical and methodological issues have not been resolved.

China also has differences with other countries. For example, in 2019, the differences between China and the U.S. amounted to $54 bln, with Germany $45 bln, noted the KGD head.