Police Raid on Steel Plant Raises Concerns Among Chinese Investors in Kazakhstan

Representatives of the Sin Yuan Steel metallurgical plant held a press conference in Astana to discuss the investigation into alleged police misconduct during a raid on the company’s Shymkent facility. The case has been transferred to the Department of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Orda.kz reports.

The company’s co-founder, Ke Xiuyun, was received by Kazakhstan’s Presidential Administration in Astana. Company lawyer Marat Baizakov said the meeting became possible after the case attracted public attention.

Our appeal to the media led to us receiving the decision to transfer the criminal case to another agency—the Department of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The decision was issued on July 13, but we received it only on July 23, despite having submitted a written request some time ago,Baizakov said.

According to the lawyer, the incident has raised concerns among Chinese investors about possible conflicts with Kazakhstani law enforcement agencies.

Chinese investors are now seriously questioning whether they should invest in Kazakhstan. Those who have already invested in projects here and those who are only considering it are having doubts,he said.

The plant’s founders and lawyers submitted an appeal to the Presidential Administration asking it to place the investigation under special supervision and ensure that it is conducted impartially.

They have also appealed the Shymkent prosecutor’s decision to transfer the case to the ministry’s Department of Internal Security. The company wants the investigation returned to the interagency investigative team led by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Baizakov said investors who were held at an administrative detention center and prevented from retrieving documents from their hotel to confirm their legal and visa status may sue for damage to their reputations and seek compensation for emotional distress.

Background

The Sin Yuan Steel plant became the center of a major controversy following a raid by Shymkent’s Department for Combating Organized Crime.

Company representatives said officers entered the plant after an anonymous caller from Uzbekistan claimed that people were being held there illegally. Police later said their inspection found no evidence of violence or forced labor.

According to the company, around 80 Chinese nationals were taken to a police station following the raid. Approximately 50 were released soon afterward, while about 20 reportedly spent more than two weeks in an administrative detention center.

Those detained included investors who had traveled to Kazakhstan to discuss investing tens of millions of dollars in the expansion of the plant.

The Prosecutor General’s Office later responded to the controversy. Its Investor Protection Committee opened a pretrial investigation after receiving a complaint from the company, while investment prosecutors promised to examine whether the police had broken the law.

The dispute surrounding the plant began more than a year ago. In 2022, Sin Yuan Steel’s Chinese investors publicly alleged an attempted corporate raid and appealed to Kazakhstan’s president.

Original author: Nurgul Zhiger

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