Kazakhstan: Legal changes void court rulings against Chinese-backed Gezhouba Shieli plant, enabling continued operation despite proven pollution
"How villagers in Kazakhstan fought against a Chinese cement plant and lost", Global Voices, 19 August 2025
Between 2019 and 2024, the residents of a small village in Kazakhstan [...] fought against a Chinese cement plant located on the outskirts of their village. Tired of dealing with pollution from the plant and worried about the community's health, the villagers took the matter into their own hands and filed a formal complaint in court in 2021.
[...] The district and provincial courts sided with the villagers, [...] ruling that the plant was built too close to the residential area in violation of the relevant legal framework.
Everything was going in the villagers’ favor until the Kazakh government intervened and amended the regulations governing the mandatory distance between hazardous plants and residential areas. This loophole allowed the plant to remain operational at its current location and continue polluting the area without facing legal consequences.
The Gezhouba Shieli plant was part of a mega investment deal signed between China and Kazakhstan in 2015, [...].
[...] the plant’s polluting effect was obvious and actively damaging their lives. The noise, air, and water pollution have had a severe negative impact on the villagers, [...].
One resident [...] was forced to relocate to the northern Pavlodar province (1,200 kilometers away) after her kids developed respiratory diseases and headaches due to the pollution.
The Shieli District Court sided with the villagers [...]
In practice, the decision meant the plant had to either shut down, relocate, or appeal the decision again in the Supreme Court. Instead, they simply took advantage of the amendments to the legislation, which were adopted in May 2024.
The ministerial order from the Health Ministry stated that “due to historically established development, it is permissible to reduce the size of the sanitary protection zone.” This allowed Gezhouba Shieli to reduce its sanitary protection zone from the legally required 1,000 meters to 450 meters and thus avoid closure.