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Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed a “new era” of relations with Central Asia on Thursday, kicking off a summit where Beijing hopes to deepen relations with this strategically vital region.
Held in the ancient Chinese city of Xi’an, the historic eastern end of the Silk Road that connected China with Europe via Central Asia, Beijing has called this week’s meeting of “historical significance.”
Addressing the region’s leaders at a welcome dinner on Thursday night, Xi said strengthening ties was a “strategic choice.”
“I am confident that with our joint efforts, tomorrow’s summit will be a complete success and mark a new era in China-Central Asia relations,” Xi said in a reading of the speech seen by AFP.
“Join us to open up a bright future of cooperation between China and Central Asia,” he added.
This week’s meeting is the first of its kind since the establishment of formal relations 31 years ago.
Beijing claims that trade with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached 70,000 million dollars in 2022 and increased 22% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.
Central Asia has also become a key for the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ in which China will invest one trillion dollars. A key geopolitical project for Xi, with Beijing keen to restart cooperation and fill the void left in former Soviet states by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, has invested billions of dollars to tap natural gas reserves in Central Asia, while rail links linking China to Europe crisscross the region.
Analysts told AFP that this week’s summit will likely see efforts to reach deals to further expand that vast network, including a long-stalled China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and an expansion of the Central Asia gas pipeline to China.
“Global Economic Leadership”
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev hailed the “unique breadth” of that project in a meeting with Xi before the summit.
Xi also told Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in talks on Thursday that China was “ready to work with Kyrgyzstan to build a community of good neighborliness, friendship, shared prosperity and a shared future.”
He then met with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, hailing the close ties between them and pledging to expand economic and cultural exchanges.
“His policies will ensure the development and future prosperity of a modern socialist state, strengthening the authority and global economic leadership of the country in the near future,” Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told Xi.
Xi and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan welcomed the heads of state in a grand welcoming ceremony in the evening, posing for a group photo in front of an old-style Chinese building illuminated by red lanterns.
Then, dozens of dancers performed a musical show inspired by the Tang dynasty, when relations between China and Central Asia were considered very strong.
A media event will take place on Friday morning, which the six presidents are expected to attend, at which a joint statement will likely be issued.
influence on growth
This week’s summit also comes as Beijing works to replace Russia as the preferred partner of Central Asian nations, and as Xi positions himself as a global statesman eager to expand China’s reach far beyond its borders.
“Xi will present himself as a leader who can promote development and global peace,” Zhiqun Zhu, a professor of international relations and political science at Bucknell University, told AFP.
The summit also coincides with a G7 meeting in Hiroshima that is likely to focus on efforts to “counter China’s growing influence around the world,” Zhu said.
“Their diplomatic and strategic importance cannot be underestimated,” he concluded.
AFP
This article was adapted from its original in English.
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