From silk and porcelain in the past to smart home appliances and mobile phones today, the Silk Road has witnessed friendly exchanges between China and Central Asia. From May 18 to 19, the first China-Central Asia Summit will be held in Xi’an City, west China’s Shaanxi Province. This will be the first summit between China and the five Central Asian countries in the presence of representatives together after the establishment of diplomatic relations. The meeting of heads of state of the six countries at the starting point of the ancient Silk Road is of enormous significance in the context of a world facing major changes not seen in a century.
“Good neighbor, good friend, good partner, good brother”—this is the true portrayal of the relations between China and the five Central Asian countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Central Asian countries in 1992, the relations between the two sides have withstood the test of international ups and downs. They have made the leap from good-neighborly friendship to strategic partnership and comprehensive strategic partnership. Cooperation across sectors has entered the fast lane. What is the driving force behind this?
The first is due to the leadership of the diplomacy of the heads of state. In the last 10 years, Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Central Asia seven times, during which he has visited important cities of the ancient Silk Road like Bukhara, Samarkand. The heads of state of the five Central Asian countries have also visited Beijing, Shanghai, Tsingtao and many other places in China. At present, both China and Central Asia are in an important stage of development. China is determined to promote Chinese-style modernization, and Central Asian countries are also focusing on promoting accelerated development strategies. They look forward to strengthening cooperation with China. At the same time, all countries are facing the impact of major changes, and their will to jointly overcome challenges has become stronger. Against this background, the first China-Central Asia Summit is being held at an opportune time, which will promote the deepening of strategic mutual trust between the two sides and the continuous expansion of cooperation in various fields.
Central Asian countries are located in the hinterland and development is a top priority. China and their economies are highly complementary. Especially when President Xi Jinping jointly proposed the “Silk Road Economic Belt” initiative when he visited Kazakhstan in 2013, creating huge development opportunities for each other. People in Central Asia often say that although Central Asia is far from the sea, “we are close to China and China’s supermarket is our sea.” China and Central Asia are strengthening cooperation in new energy, digital economy, high-tech and other fields. Central Asia is not only a place to introduce the “Belt and Road” initiative, but also a demonstration area.
Thousand years of friendship and practical cooperation have brought the hearts of Chinese and Central Asian peoples closer. China and the five Central Asian countries are all developing countries, firmly uphold multilateralism and the recognized norms of international law, and firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests such as national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
At the same time, on bilateral and multilateral platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), China and the five Central Asian countries together combat the “three forces”, effectively safeguarding regional and world peace and stability. “United power can turn even the hardest stone into lava.” This is a famous poem of Turkmenistan. Over the past 30 years, China and Central Asian countries have always respected each other, maintained good-neighborly friendship, sought mutual benefit and win-win, setting an example for a new type of international relations. Is. Today, the heads of state of six countries have gathered in Xi’an to seek future development and build a China-Central Asia Community with a closer shared destiny, which will surely make the next “Golden 30 Years” even more exciting.
(Credits-China Media Group, Beijing)
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