China's Ambitious Trade Vision for Kyrgyzstan Takes Shape

A Swedish consultancy group made international headlines in 2007 when it declared that Santa Claus should be based in Kyrgyzstan, as it was the best place for him to reach every household in the world during his fabled Christmas-night journey. For those restricted to ground travel, however, landlocked Kyrgyzstan still looks like a logistics nightmare with its soaring mountain peaks and poor roads. Yet China is undeterred and seems to be pulling out all the stops to turn Central Asia's second-poorest country into its next big project in terms of…