Chinese President Xi Jinping publishes article ahead of visit to Kyrgyzstan — ECNS
Chinese President Xi Jinping has published a signed article in the Kyrgyz outlets Slovo Kyrgyzstana and the Kabar agency ahead of his state visit to Kyrgyzstan and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek. As ECNS reports, this will be the Chinese leader’s third visit to the country.
In the article, titled “Jointly Opening New Prospects for High-Quality Development of China-Kyrgyzstan Relations,” Xi stated his intention to work with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to determine the further directions of bilateral relations and the development of cooperation within the SCO.
Railway and economic cooperation
Xi Jinping noted that China has for many years been Kyrgyzstan’s largest trading partner and largest source of foreign investment. According to him, construction of the Kyrgyz section of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is actively progressing, while the Bedel border crossing has been temporarily opened ahead of its full commissioning.
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The Chinese president also said there was a need to expand cooperation in trade, investment, transport connectivity and “green” mineral extraction. He named the digital economy, clean energy and artificial intelligence among promising areas. Separately, Xi called for accelerating the modernization of land border checkpoints and developing institutional interaction to simplify the movement of people and goods.
Cultural contacts and the SCO
The article states that China has established one Luban Workshop, four Confucius Institutes and 21 Confucius classrooms in Kyrgyzstan. According to Xi, the number of mutual trips between the two countries exceeded 400,000 last year, while close ties are maintained by 30 pairs of cities and provinces.
Xi also emphasized coordination between China and Kyrgyzstan in international formats and countering terrorism, separatism and extremism. He positively assessed Kyrgyzstan’s work during its SCO chairmanship and expressed confidence that the organization’s summit in Bishkek would contribute to the further development of cooperation within it.
