Elevating partnership
President Xi Jinping and visiting Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov announced on May 18 that their bilateral ties are being elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era, and vowed to build a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future, featuring good neighborliness and common prosperity.
The two presidents signed a joint declaration on the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era following their talks in Xi’an, Shaanxi province. They also witnessed the signing of multiple cooperation agreements in the fields of economy and trade, industry, customs, agriculture, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Japarov was making a state visit to China. During their talks, Xi recalled his two meetings with the Kyrgyz president last year, saying the consensus he reached with Japarov on bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields is being carried forward.
Xi underlined the need for both countries to strengthen mutual support and be good friends who can trust and count on each other.
He called for efforts to strengthen the synergy of development strategies of the two countries, step up policy coordination and advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields, with a focus on high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
While highlighting their partnership in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, Xi emphasized deepening mutual connectivity and starting the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway project on an early date.
Japarov said that ties between the two countries are at their historically best level. Kyrgyzstan firmly supports China’s position on China’s core interests, including the Taiwan question and issues related to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, he said.
The Kyrgyz president added that his country stands ready to work with China to promote security and development of both countries and the region, and jointly turn the ChinaCentral Asia Summit into a new cooperation platform for the two sides.