Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 2nd China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, where he and the heads of five Central Asian states discussed traditional friendship and worked out a plan for further development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday.
Wang Yi, also a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, made the statement during a briefing for journalists following Xi Jinping’s visit.
The Chinese diplomat noted that in Astana, Xi Jinping and the leaders of Central Asian countries discussed cooperation plans and achieved more than 100 cooperation results.
According to the head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the most notable highlight of this summit was Xi Jinping’s introduction of the concept of “China-Central Asian spirit”, which is expressed in four aspects: mutual respect and equal treatment; deep mutual trust and mutual support; mutual benefit and joint development; mutual assistance and joint overcoming of difficulties.
Central Asian leaders unanimously agreed to adhere to this spirit, Wang Yi said.
The head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that China and the five Central Asian countries are developing countries that always follow the path of modernization together.
The most prominent theme of the summit, Wang Yi continued, was the joint announcement by the heads of the six states of 2025 and 2026 as the Years of High-Quality Development of China-Central Asian Cooperation.
The two sides will focus cooperation on six priority areas: unimpeded trade, industrial investment, connectivity, green resources, agricultural modernization and facilitating people-to-people exchanges, to achieve new tangible results, the Chinese diplomat said.
Wang Yi said that Xi Jinping attended the signing of the action plan for high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative together with the heads of five Central Asian states. This was the first time that China signed a single document on cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with all countries in a neighboring region.
The head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry recalled that China is the most important trade and investment partner of the Central Asian countries. All parties agreed that there are no winners in tariff and trade wars, and unilateralism and protectionism have no prospects.
Responding to Central Asia’s urgent need to boost and enhance its capacity for independent development, Xi Jinping announced the establishment of three cooperation centers within the framework of China-Central Asia cooperation – on poverty alleviation, on educational exchanges, and on desertification prevention and control, and promised to provide 3,000 educational places for Central Asian countries in the next two years.
The most important innovative initiative of this summit, as Wang Yi stated, was the signing by the heads of six states of the Treaty of Eternal Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which enshrines the principle of eternal friendship in legal form and indicates that political mutual trust between China and the Central Asian countries has reached a new height.
During the summit, China and Central Asian countries also achieved a number of new cooperation results in areas such as inter-regional cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, educational exchanges and cultural tourism.
In addition, the six heads of state attended the signing of a number of sister city agreements. Wang Yi noted that this brought the number of sister city pairs between China and the five Central Asian countries to more than 100, achieving the goal of the initiative put forward by Xi Jinping three years ago. –0–