Editor's note: President Xi Jinping held a series of talks on Tuesday with leaders from Central Asian countries in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on the sidelines of the second China-Central Asia Summit.

Sino-Kyrgyz relations at historic high

Cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan holds great potential, and their relations are now at a historic high, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday during a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

China is willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to continue deepening the alignment of their development strategies, remain steadfast in supporting each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, and safeguard their common and long-term interests, Xi said.

The two sides should expand the scale of their trade and investment, deepen financial cooperation, improve connectivity networks, and promote the high-quality construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, he said.

In addition, the two countries should expand cooperation in emerging fields, cultivate new areas of growth in clean energy, green minerals and artificial intelligence, enhance communication in fields such as culture, tourism, education and health, and implement more projects that benefit the people, he added.

Both countries should jointly oppose unilateralism, firmly safeguard the international economic and trade order, and promote the construction of a more just and equitable global governance system, Xi said.

Noting that China and Kyrgyzstan will successively assume the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and host summits this year and next year, Xi said that China is willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to support each other and jointly promote the further development of the SCO.

Japarov said that his country places great importance on developing relations with China and it firmly adheres to the one-China principle.

China is Kyrgyzstan's largest trade and investment partner. Kyrgyzstan welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and thrive in the country, and it is willing to work with China and implement projects such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, and strengthen cooperation in fields such as energy and green minerals, Japarov said.

Kyrgyzstan is ready to closely coordinate and cooperate with China within the framework of the United Nations, the SCO and the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism, he added.