ASTANA: Chinese President Xi Jinping said China-Kyrgyzstan relations are at their best in history and full of potential for cooperation. He called on the two countries to expand cooperation and jointly safeguard the international economic and trade order.
Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on Tuesday, held on the sidelines of the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
He noted that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 33 years ago, China-Kyrgyzstan relations have achieved leapfrog development and are now at their best in history. Xi highlighted the fruitful meeting held in Beijing in February, which led to a series of important agreements, injecting strong new momentum into bilateral cooperation.
China is willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to deepen the alignment of development strategies, continue supporting each other on respective core interests and major concerns, and safeguard their shared long-term interests, he said.
Xi emphasized that China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation holds great promise. He called for expanding trade and investment, deepening financial cooperation, and improving connectivity networks – particularly by advancing the high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.
He also proposed strengthening cooperation in emerging sectors such as clean energy, green mining, and artificial intelligence, to foster new drivers of growth. Cultural, tourism, education, and healthcare exchanges should also be deepened, with more people-centered projects implemented, Xi added.
Both China and Kyrgyzstan, Xi said, are beneficiaries of economic globalization and should jointly oppose unilateralism, safeguard the international economic and trade order, and promote a more just and reasonable global governance system.
As China and Kyrgyzstan will successively assume the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and host its summits, Xi said China stands ready to support Kyrgyzstan in jointly promoting the organization’s further development.
President Japarov affirmed Kyrgyzstan’s strong support for the three major global initiatives proposed by President Xi. He said Kyrgyzstan is committed to close coordination within the frameworks of the United Nations, the SCO, and the China-Central Asia mechanism to jointly promote regional and global peace, stability, and prosperity.
Kyrgyzstan attaches great importance to developing relations with China and cherishes the strategic partnership based on mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, and good-neighborliness, he added.
Japarov reiterated firm support for China’s position on issues concerning China’s core interests, firm adherence to the one-China principle, opposition to all forms of “Taiwan independence,” and any external interference in China’s internal affairs.
Noting that China is Kyrgyzstan’s largest trading and investment partner, Japarov said Kyrgyzstan welcomes more Chinese companies coming to invest in the country and is willing to working with China to strengthen cooperation in energy and green mining.
After the meeting, the two heads of state jointly witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the sectors of agriculture, customs, science and technology, and media.
