Pomegranate blossoms, and the new platform opens up new prospects for China-Central Asia cooperation

Beijing, 5 May (ZXS) -- In the ancient capital of early summer, pomegranate blossoms bloomed and neighboring neighbors came. Pomegranate flowers are the flowers of the ancient city of Xi'an, and the pomegranate tree is native to Central Asia, and behind a pomegranate flower is a long history of exchanges between China and Central Asia. On May 19-5, the first China-Central Asia Summit was held in Xi'an, the "starting point" of the ancient Silk Road, and became a witness to the creation of a new platform for cooperation between China and Central Asia.

On the morning of May 5, Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over the first China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Working Together to Build a China-Central Asia Community with a Shared Future for Mutual Assistance, Common Development, Universal Security and Friendship for All Generations". President Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President of Kyrgyzstan Zaparov, President Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan, and President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan attended the meeting. Photo by Sheng Jiapeng, reporter of China News Agency

"A closer community of common destiny"

Thirty-one years ago, China took the lead in establishing diplomatic relations with Central Asian countries, and state-to-state relations achieved a historic leap from good-neighborliness and friendship to strategic partnership to a community of common destiny.

This time in Xi'an, the heads of state of the six countries held the summit in physical form for the first time, and China's cooperation with Central Asian countries has been upgraded again. "Deepening China-Central Asia cooperation is a strategic choice made by our generation of leaders with an eye to the future, in line with the general trend of the world, and in line with the expectations of the people." On the evening of the 18th, when a welcoming ceremony and banquet were held in the Tang Paradise, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

While reviewing the fruitful results of cooperation over the past 30 years, the two sides have also set a more ambitious goal - to work together to build a closer community with a shared future. On the 19th, Xi Jinping presided over the summit and delivered a keynote speech when putting forward "four persistences": adhere to mutual assistance, adhere to common development, adhere to universal security, adhere to friendship from generation to generation, and further point out the direction on how to build a China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

In the eyes of the outside world, this summit focuses on "common destiny" and is a milestone in the history of the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries.

Chen Yurong, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, pointed out that based on the deepening of practical cooperation between China and Central Asia in various fields and the increasing demand for multilateral cooperation such as economy and security, building a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future will provide an important platform for deepening bilateral and multilateral cooperation and better build a stable, prosperous, harmonious and connected Central Asia.

"A new roadmap"

More than 700,<> years ago, Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Han Dynasty in China, set out from Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) to open up the Silk Road that straddled East and West and connected Europe and Asia. Today, Central Asia has become the first initiative and a benchmark for interconnection in jointly building the "Belt and Road". Last year, the total trade between China and the five Central Asian countries exceeded US$<> billion, a record high, demonstrating the potential and resilience of cooperation.

Promoting the strengthening of development strategy docking and policy coordination is an important topic of this summit. Xi Jinping pointed out in his keynote speech at the summit that China is willing to take the opportunity of holding this summit and work closely with all parties to plan, build and develop China-Central Asia cooperation. The summit reached a lot of consensus on this, which is expected to promote more cooperation under the "Belt and Road" initiative.

The Xi'an Declaration of the China-Central Asia Summit issued by the summit clearly states that the "Belt and Road" initiative will be strengthened with the initiatives and development strategies of the five Central Asian countries. Some Central Asian media commented that this is crucial for the economic and social development of Central Asia in the next few decades, providing a "window of opportunity" for the transformation of Central Asian countries and drawing a "new road map" for the development of regional countries.

In specific areas such as strengthening institutional construction, expanding economic and trade relations, and deepening connectivity, the summit also gave a clear action plan. Measures such as upgrading bilateral investment agreements, opening more ports, and accelerating the construction of the D-line China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline not only meet the development concerns of Central Asian countries themselves, but also provide long-term and detailed plans for future cooperation between the two sides.

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the "Belt and Road" Research Center of Lanzhou University, said that this series of pragmatic measures shows that the cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries has been elevated to a new height, and the industrial docking between countries under the framework of the "Belt and Road" will be further strengthened. Under the new geopolitical pattern, pragmatic cooperation between China and Central Asian countries in energy cooperation, disaster prevention and mitigation, infrastructure construction and many other fields will show stronger impetus.

"New platform" for cooperation "not targeting third parties"

As a new mechanism for cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, the "China-Central Asia Mechanism" has attracted great attention from the outside world. "This summit has built a new platform and opened up new prospects for cooperation between China and Central Asia." Xi Jinping emphasized in his keynote speech.

From the establishment of a regular meeting mechanism between foreign ministers between China and the five Central Asian countries in 2020 to the formal establishment of the China-Central Asia Heads of State Meeting mechanism with the summit as an opportunity, the cooperation mechanism between China and Central Asian countries has been rapidly upgraded, and the overall level of interaction between China and Central Asian countries has been enhanced.

Su Xiaohui, associate researcher of the China Institute of International Studies, said that the formal establishment of the China-Central Asia summit mechanism will have an important and far-reaching impact on the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries, their respective development and revitalization, and regional peace and stability. The normalization of the summit mechanism will continue to lead China's relations with the five Central Asian countries to a higher level, and will also have a positive demonstration effect.

Observers believe that although the "China-Central Asia Mechanism" started late, it focuses on pragmatism and respects the demands of various countries, and is deeply supported and welcomed by Central Asian countries. China's cooperation with Central Asia does not target third parties and has no intention of competing with other mechanisms. At a time when some countries are deliberately provoking regional confrontation and inciting camp confrontation, China-Central Asia cooperation demonstrates the vitality and value of transcending times and regions, and provides useful reference for countries committed to good-neighborliness, friendship and common prosperity.

After the summit, Xi Jinping and the heads of state of the five Central Asian countries jointly planted six pomegranate trees. The pomegranate tree has witnessed the millennial friendly exchanges between China and Central Asia, and pinned its hopes on a better future for China and Central Asia. Ding Xiaoxing, director of the Eurasia Institute of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said that the successful holding of the landmark summit at the eastern starting point of the ancient Silk Road will bring China and Central Asian countries closer together like pomegranate seeds, bilateral relations will continue to blossom and bear fruit, and the tree of friendship will flourish. (End)