C. Asia ties to get new boost

President Xi Jinping will attend the second China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, from Monday to Wednesday, a move widely expected to upgrade regional cooperation and give more positive energy to the building of an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the summit, and exchange views with the leaders of the Central Asian countries on the achievements of the China-Central Asia mechanism, mutually beneficial cooperation within the framework, and international and regional hot spot issues.

During the summit, he will also hold separate meetings with the leaders of the five countries to make top-level plans for the development of China's relations with the countries in the region.

The five Central Asian countries are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

This year's summit will be the first to be held in a Central Asian country. During the first summit, which was held in May 2023 in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, the two sides agreed to take turns in hosting the biennial event.

The establishment of the China-Central Asia mechanism was a joint decision by China and the five countries, which conforms to their shared aspiration of upholding regional stability and achieving high-quality development, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Friday.

Since the first summit, cooperation between the two sides has continued to deepen, injecting fresh momentum into regional development and bringing tangible benefits and convenience to their peoples, Lin said.

"We believe that through this summit, China and the five Central Asian countries will further consolidate the foundation of mutual trust, build greater consensus on cooperation, deepen strategic alignment, and upgrade cooperation across various fields," he said.

The relationship between China and Central Asia has been rapidly and comprehensively elevated in recent years.

China has become the region's largest trading partner, with statistics showing that trade between China and the Central Asian countries reached a record high of $94.8 billion in 2024.

Su Chang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' China-Russia High-Level Cooperation Think Tank, said that the China-Central Asia Summit is an important practice of China's vision of building a community with a shared future with its neighboring countries, and reflects the friendly relations between China and countries in the region amid a turbulent international landscape.

They view China as a major country that plays a constructive and positive role in the region, she said.

The rapid growth of China-Central Asia relations is driven by their common pursuit of stability, development and the well-being of their peoples, Su said, adding that Central Asian countries have acknowledged the support and contribution that China has provided for their economic development.

There is vast potential and broad prospects for future cooperation between the two sides, she added.

Li Ziguo, director of the Department for European-Central Asian Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the China-Central Asia Summit not only provides top-level strategic guidance for the future development of their relations, but also establishes concrete implementation bodies, which demonstrates a high degree of pragmatism and efficiency.

As they are close neighbors, cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries is based on mutual respect, equality, good-neighborliness and win-win outcomes, he said.

Leveraging geographical proximity and economic complementarity, the two sides have promoted cooperation in energy, infrastructure, the economy and trade, and people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Key areas of future cooperation are expected to be transportation and logistics, sustainable development and the digital economy, he said.