Leaders from China and Central Asia are expected to chart a new course for the development of bilateral relations through the upcoming second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, from June 16 to 18.
At the invitation of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the summit, which will also gather leaders from the five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Astana summit comes two years after the first China-Central Asia Summit, which was held in Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi in northwest China.
The previous summit in 2023 concluded with the Xi'an Declaration, which announced the official establishment of a mechanism for meetings among the heads of state of China and Central Asian countries.
Since the first summit, relations between China and the Central Asian countries have entered a new era, with deeper and more practical cooperation between the two sides.
"Today, once-in-a-century changes in the world are accelerating, and the destabilizing factors in the international and regional situation have significantly increased. China and Central Asian countries adhere to good neighborliness and friendship, unite and join hands, deepen cooperation, jointly support multilateralism and safeguard the multilateral trading system. This will inject new impetus into prosperity and development in the region and add certainty to regional peace and stability," said Han Chunlin, Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan.
China has established comprehensive strategic partnerships with all five Central Asian countries and signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with these countries.
"Today, the areas of cooperation between Central Asian countries and China are very extensive, in-depth and productive. We hope that this summit can build on the positive momentum from the summit in May 2023 in Xi'an and further strengthen cooperation between China and Central Asia in various fields such as politics, economy and trade, culture and people-to-people exchanges," said Shakhrat Nuryshev, Kazakh Ambassador to China.
Chinese, Kazakh ambassadors on importance of upcoming Astana summit
