President Xi Jinping held bilateral meetings on Thursday with his counterparts from Central Asian countries who are in Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi, to attend the China-Central Asia Summit.

Elevating partnership

President Xi Jinping and visiting Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov announced on Thursday 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, investment, customs, agriculture, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Japarov is 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, injecting strong momentum into the development of the relationship between the two countries.

Xi underlined the need for both countries to strengthen mutual support, especially on issues concerning each other's core interests, and to 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.

He urged deepening security cooperation between the two countries in order to provide a sound and safe environment for joint building of the Belt and Road, as well as for both countries' development.

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 Xin-jiang 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 China-Central Asia Summit into a new cooperation platform for the two sides.