Xi Jinping called on China and Central Asia to \u201cfully unleash\u201d their potential in trade, economic and infrastructure cooperation on Friday, as he wrapped up a landmark summit with heads of state from the strategically vital region.
\nThe Chinese leader is hosting the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at a summit in Xi\u2019an in northern China this week \u2014 a meeting Beijing has said is of \u201cmilestone\u201d significance.
\nBeijing says trade with Central Asia reached $70 billion in 2022 and expanded 22 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023.
\nThe region is also a crucial link in China\u2019s trillion-dollar global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
\nSpeaking to regional leaders, Xi said the countries must \u201cfully unleash the potential of traditional cooperation in economy, trade, industrial capacity, energy and transport\u201d, according to a state media readout.
\nHe also stressed the need to develop \u201cnew growth drivers \u2026 such as finance, agriculture, poverty reduction, low carbon, health, and digital innovation\u201d.
\n\u201cChina and Central Asian countries should deepen strategic mutual trust, and always offer clear and strong support for each other on issues of core interests.\u201d
\nBelt and Road is a defining geopolitical project for Xi, with Beijing keen to restart cooperation and fill the vacuum left in former Soviet states by Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.
\nOn Friday, Xi said the region and China must \u201ctake the lead\u201d in that project and \u201cdeepen strategic mutual trust\u201d.
\nAnd with a goal to \u201cuphold everlasting friendship\u201d, the Chinese leader said the leaders would aim to meet again in Kazakhstan in 2025.
\nHe also stressed the need to expand security cooperation on what Beijing dubbed the \u201cthree evils\u201d in the region: separatism, terrorism and extremism.
\n\u201cThe six countries should resolutely oppose external interference in the internal affairs of regional countries and attempts to instigate \u2018color revolutions\u2019,\u201d Xi said, a reference to unrest in former Soviet states that Moscow and others allege is backed by the West.
\nGrowing influence
\nMoscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has allowed China to carve out a greater role in Central Asia, leading many in the region to question their long-standing ties with Russia and seek economic, diplomatic and strategic assurances elsewhere.
\n\u201cRussia\u2019s military involvement in Ukraine has led to the imposition of sanctions by the West, which has weakened Russia\u2019s power and led to a relative decline in its influence in Central Asia,\u201d Lu Gang, director of Center for Central Asian Studies at East China Normal University, told AFP.
\n\u201cThis result has led Central Asian countries to place greater emphasis on economic cooperation and political support from China,\u201d Lu said.
\nThis week\u2019s summit comes as Xi positions himself as a global statesman keen to expand China\u2019s reach far beyond its borders.
\n\u201cXi will position himself as a leader that can promote global development and peace,\u201d Zhiqun Zhu, a Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Bucknell University, told AFP.
\nThe summit also coincides with a meeting of the G7 in Hiroshima that will likely focus on efforts to \u201cpush back China\u2019s growing influence around the world\u201d, Zhu noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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