China, Kyrgyzstan to advance Belt and Road cooperation

President Xi Jinping lauded on Wednesday the leapfrog development of China-Kyrgyzstan relations in recent years, saying that China is willing to work with the Central Asian country to further align their development strategies and focus on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation for more mutually beneficial outcomes.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, who is making a state visit to China from Tuesday to Friday. The two leaders also signed a joint statement and witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation documents in areas such as diplomacy, trade, the economy and agriculture.

It was the fifth meeting between the two leaders since Japarov took office as Kyrgyz president in 2021. During Japarov's state visit to China in 2023, the two heads of state brought bilateral ties to a new height by jointly elevating the China-Kyrgyzstan relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era.

Xi said on Tuesday that in recent years, the two countries have continuously consolidated political mutual trust and achieved good results in various fields of cooperation, thus gathering greater popular support for the building of a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future.

China is willing to continue expanding its economic, trade and investment cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, import more quality goods from the country, and support more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Kyrgyzstan, he said, noting that China hopes Kyrgyzstan will earnestly protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese investors.

For many years, China has been Kyrgyzstan's largest trading partner and a major source of investment. Last year, bilateral trade reached $22.71 billion, registering a historic record with a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent, according to China's Foreign Ministry.

On enhancing connectivity, Xi said that the two countries should work together to build the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway with high standards and high quality, renovate existing ports simultaneously, and open more passenger and freight flights to facilitate the flow of people and goods.

The Chinese president called on the two sides to create new drivers for growth by expanding cooperation on cross-border e-commerce, big data and artificial intelligence and promote friendship between the two countries through the operation of institutions such as Chinese cultural centers.

Xi also expressed China's readiness to closely coordinate with Kyrgyzstan to strengthen cooperation within the China-Central Asia mechanism.

Japarov said he was glad to visit China at the beginning of the Chinese New Year and extended his wishes for the success of the upcoming 9th Asian Winter Games, to be held in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, from Friday to Feb 14.

Hailing China's remarkable development achievements, Japarov said Kyrgyzstan is willing to learn from China's successful experiences in sharing its development outcomes with other countries, and promoting excellent traditional Chinese culture while advancing modernization.

Japarov added that Kyrgyzstan will work with China to build the Belt and Road with high quality, ensure the success of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, and advance cooperation in industry, investment, trade, transportation, e-commerce and education.

Officially launched in December, the railway project was described by Japarov in an earlier interview as the latest achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative and one that is pivotal for sustaining the high level of relations between the two countries.

Su Chang, a research fellow with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the high-level political mutual trust between China and Kyrgyzstan since their establishment of diplomatic relations has served as an important foundation for deepening bilateral cooperation.

"It is the consensus in Kyrgyzstan that China's investment under the BRI brings huge opportunities for the Central Asian country's development," Su said, noting that the two countries' Belt and Road cooperation has been expanded from trade and infrastructure to cover culture, education, and science and technology.

As China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation continues to deepen, Kyrgyzstan should pay more attention to ensuring the security of China's investments in the Central Asian nation and create a more sound business environment, she added.