This is the first time since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five Central Asian countries that the heads of state of the six countries have held a summit in a physical form, which is a milestone in the history of the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping will preside over the summit, discuss cooperation plans with the leaders of the five Central Asian countries, and draw up a new blueprint for China-Central Asia relations. As China's first major home diplomatic event in 2023, the China-Central Asia Summit has received high attention. Kyrgyzstan media reported that Central Asian countries have traditional friendship with China, with similar cultures and geographical proximity. The development of bilateral relations and friendly cooperation do not attach any political prerequisites. They are truly good friends, good neighbors and good partners. It is believed that this summit will open up a brighter future for bilateral relations and cooperation. Bakitayev, a famous political scientist in Kyrgyzstan, said that the world is now turning to the east, and all countries are studying China's policies. The five Central Asian countries as a whole will elevate their mutually beneficial cooperation with China to a new level. 2023 is the 10th anniversary of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. Some Chinese scholars believe that this summit will enhance the level of industrial docking among countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Yangko Team warmly welcomes distinguished guests from Central Asia

Leaders attending the China-Central Asia Summit arrived one after another. Kazakhstan President Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Zaparov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, and Turkmenistan President Berdymukhame attended the China-Central Asia Summit Dov and President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan have arrived in Xi'an since the 17th. Local people welcomed distinguished guests from Central Asian countries with enthusiastic waist drums, cheerful Yangko and other folk art performances at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport. The reporter saw on the streets of Xi'an on the 17th that the ancient capital in the early summer became more lively due to the holding of the China-Central Asia Summit. "Welcome to the summit" and "host" and other eye-catching words.

Bilateral diplomacy has already begun ahead of the China-Central Asia summit. On the afternoon of the 17th, Xi Jinping held talks with Tokayev in Xi'an. After the talks, the two heads of state signed the "Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan", and jointly witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of economy, trade, energy, transportation, agriculture, connectivity, people-to-people exchanges, and localities.

According to the introduction of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 16th, at the summit, leaders of various countries will reach a series of important consensus on deepening China-Central Asia strategic mutual trust and cooperation in key areas. The six heads of state will jointly sign or witness the signing of a number of important political documents, involving Economic and trade, investment, interconnection and other fields. According to Agence France-Presse and other media reports, China is expected to introduce new visa-free measures with the five Central Asian countries after the meeting. At present, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have reached an agreement with China on the visa-free policy, and Kyrgyzstan is still negotiating terms with Beijing. In addition, the summit may continue to promote the level of connectivity between China and the five Central Asian countries, including the expansion of natural gas pipelines.

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Belt and Road Research Center of Lanzhou University, said that this summit will elevate the cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries to a new level, especially the level of industrial docking among countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. Under the new geopolitical situation, cooperation between China and Central Asian countries in the fields of energy cooperation, disaster prevention and reduction, and infrastructure construction has strong momentum. Wang Xiaoquan, a researcher at the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the summit will help push China to extend its industrial and supply chains to Central Asia, and may even form a new land power economic system linking Asian and European land power economic plates. Its core features are equal cooperation, mutual benefit, and common development. It represents the future direction of world economic cooperation and is conducive to the formation of a more just and reasonable regional economic order.

Looking forward to a new paradigm of China-Central Asia cooperation, the China-Central Asia Summit will be an important milestone in the relationship between Beijing and this strategic location, and will open a new stage of bilateral cooperation. China hopes to coexist peacefully with its neighbors and share a common destiny. Kyrgyzstan’s Kabar News Agency stated that the geopolitical transition period has created a window of opportunity for Central Asia, and the meeting between the leaders of the five Central Asian countries and the Chinese leader has created a prerequisite for changes in the Eurasian continent. condition. The summit will be crucial to the realization of large-scale infrastructure projects and the economic development of the Central Asian region in the coming decades. Uzbekistan media said that China and Central Asian countries will further promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, establish a new model of mutually beneficial cooperation, and benefit the two peoples.

The international community has high expectations

On September 7, 2013, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech in Kazakhstan, proposing for the first time a major initiative to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt, thus starting a great cause that will benefit the people of the countries along the route. Over the past 10 years, China and Central Asia have carried out equal, pragmatic and efficient cooperation, and the joint construction of the Belt and Road has achieved fruitful results. In terms of trade, according to Chinese statistics, by 2022, China and the five Central Asian countries will achieve the trade target of US$70 billion ahead of schedule. According to the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on the 17th, the import and export between China and the five Central Asian countries in the first four months of 2023 was 173.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.3%. It is noteworthy that in April, the monthly import and export scale between China and the five Central Asian countries exceeded 50 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 50.27 billion yuan, reaching a new level.

People from many countries in Central Asia have been looking forward to the summit. Alimov, a professor at the Presidential Academy of Tajikistan, said that the fate of Central Asian countries and China is closely linked, and the cooperation between the two sides has achieved many historic and remarkable achievements. Peaceful development, prosperity and stability are the common pursuit and vision of the five Central Asian countries and China. The summit will push the relationship between Central Asian countries and China to a new level and inject new impetus into regional security and development. Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of "Kazakhstan Industry Daily", said that the international community has high expectations for the China-Central Asia Summit. route map. Hasanov, a scholar at the Uzbekistan University of World Economics and Diplomacy, said that the China-Central Asia Summit will open up better prospects for win-win cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, and better promote the building of a China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

The importance of Central Asia in China's foreign relations agenda is rising. Zhao Huirong, a researcher at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the Global Times on the 17th that the first China-Central Asia Summit held at this time will mainly It is based on the needs of the continuous development of the relationship between China and Central Asia, and it is "successful." It is believed that this head of state meeting mechanism will become a normalized and institutionalized cooperation, and promote the relationship between China and the five Central Asian countries to a higher level.

Central Asia and China and Russia will be a win-win situation

As China strengthens cooperation with Central Asian countries, some envious Western media claim that the China-Central Asia Summit is China’s attempt to compete with Russia for influence in the region.” In this regard, relevant reports by Western media have ulterior motives , Russia and China in Central Asia are in coordination, not competition, and the joint efforts of Russia and China will bring benefits to all local residents. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on the 17th that the relationship between Russia and China at all levels is at the closest level, with mutual trust Russia does not believe that there is a threat from China. "If such a relationship is rare or even not seen among Western countries, then this is not our problem.

Former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Djoomart Otorbayev said that the Western media's relevant arguments are conspiracy theories, and Central Asia's contacts with China and Russia will be a win-win situation. China and Russia, along with the rest of the world, want to see Central Asia as a prosperous and progressive region, not a poor and hungry one. So if Central Asia develops faster, becomes healthier and richer, all neighboring countries will benefit. No one wants to see Central Asia become the birthplace of illegal immigration, terrorism and extremism. So in this regard, Russia and China have the same idea, and there is no such thing as competition.

Voice of America said that the United States, the European Union, Japan and India all intend to strengthen their relations with Central Asian countries. U.S. officials say the U.S. is stepping up its engagement with the five Central Asian countries, particularly in an effort to demonstrate the benefits of cooperating with the U.S. and the West at a time when the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has negative global repercussions. "In fact, the relationship between Central Asia and China and Russia is becoming closer," Pantucci, a scholar at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told the BBC. The United States opposes the establishment of closer security relations between Central Asian countries and China, but It "realizes that persuading China to decouple will not be easy".

Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Eurasian Institute of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said on the 17th that the United States has always coveted Central Asia because it occupies an important strategic position between China, Russia, Iran and Israel. However, the Central Asian countries know that China and Central Asia have followed the path of a new type of international relations in the past 31 years, featuring mutual respect, good-neighborliness and friendship, solidarity, and win-win cooperation. Compared with China's actual promotion of stability and regional cooperation in Central Asia, the United States attaches great importance to Central Asia mainly from the perspective of geopolitical games and from the perspective of containing China and Russia. Promise of.Editor/XingWentao