Charting course for shared future
At landmark gathering, leaders reach consensus on stronger cooperation in various fields
China and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to support the establishment of a China-Central Asia energy development partnership to expand full-chain energy cooperation.
The agreement is one of the fruitful achievements of the landmark China-Central Asia Summit, which concluded in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on May 19.
During the summit, President Xi Jinping, together with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, reached a wide range of new consensuses on cooperation in various fields, including the economy, trade, investment, security and people-to-people exchanges.
They pledged to work together for an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future featuring mutual assistance, common development, universal security and everlasting friendship.
The heads of state of the six countries jointly signed the Xi’an Declaration of the China-Central Asia Summit, adopted a list of summit outcomes, and charted a blueprint for the future development of ChinaCentral Asia relations.
The declaration said that the six countries will further expand their partnership in traditional energy, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, strengthen renewable energy cooperation, and intensify collaboration in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Noting that energy partnership is an important part of sustainable development in the region, the six countries underlined the importance of stable energy supplies to economic, trade and investment cooperation, and support for speeding up construction of the D line of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, according to the declaration. In his keynote address to the summit, Xi announced that China will provide Central Asian nations a total of 26 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in financing support and grants, as part of efforts to bolster regional cooperation.
He highlighted that the world needs a harmonious Central Asia, saying: “No one has the right to sow discord or stoke confrontation in the region, let alone seek selfish political interests.”
While jointly meeting the media with the presidents of the five Central Asian countries after the summit, Xi said that the six countries will firmly support each other on issues concerning respective core interests such as sovereignty, independence, security and territorial integrity, respect the development path chosen based on each other’s national conditions, and firmly oppose interference in internal affairs by any force or under any pretext.
The five Central Asian countries fully recognize the significance of the Chinese path to modernization for the world’s development, and reiterate their firm commitment to the oneChina principle, Xi said.
He said that China and the Central Asian countries will take the 10th anniversary of Belt and Road cooperation as a new starting point to build better synergy among development strategies, promote trade liberalization and facilitation, expand industrial and investment cooperation and further develop transport corridors connecting China and Central Asia.
“Together, we will foster a new cooperation paradigm featuring highlevel complementarity and mutual benefit,” he said.
Looking forward, Xi said that China’s relations with the Central Asian countries will “forge ahead like a ship braving all winds and waves”, offer new vitality to the development and revitalization of the six countries, and inject strong and positive energy to peace and stability of the region.
The presidents of the five Central Asian countries spoke highly about the achievements of the summit and the fruitful outcomes of their allaround cooperation with China. They said that China has now become a crucial force for ensuring global security and stability and for promoting scientific, technological and economic development, and that cooperation with China is an important factor indispensable for countries’ pursuit of sustainable development.
They commended China’s policy of friendship and cooperation toward Central Asia, and expressed readiness to keep fully harnessing the strategic and leading role of head-of-state diplomacy, expand and strengthen the China-Central Asia Summit Mechanism, enhance top-level planning and coordination, and deepen their all-around practical cooperation with China.
The six countries officially inaugurated the China-Central Asia Summit Mechanism, with China and Central Asian countries taking turns to host the biennial summit. They agreed that the second China-Central Asia Summit will be hosted by Kazakhstan in 2025.
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the summit was “fruitful”, as it gave fresh impetus to the deepening of China-Central Asia relations, and in the meantime, it contributed to upholding international fairness and justice.
The six countries agreed to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, firmly uphold multilateralism, resist unilateralism, hegemony and power politics, and strive to promote the democratization of international relations and make the international order and global governance system fairer and more equitable, he said.