Astana, Jun 16 (EFE).- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Kazakhstan on Monday, where he was received by his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to participate in the Second China-Central Asia Summit. The leaders are expected to discuss multilateral cooperation in several key sectors.
The Chinese president, who turned 72 yesterday, is scheduled to participate in the summit on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, which are gaining global significance due to their geostrategic position as a corridor to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
Some of the issues to be discussed in the Kazakh capital include trade, energy, technology cooperation, agriculture, industry, and logistics.
From the Russian side, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a press conference on Monday that Russia “has no reason to worry” about the strengthening of relations between Central Asian countries and China. He said that “China is a privileged strategic partner” and Central Asian countries are “natural allies and partners.”
Earlier Monday, China and Kazakhstan signed several agreements on energy cooperation, and digital transformation and cybersecurity within the framework of the Power Central Asia + China forum, and involving companies such as Huawei and Powerchina.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Monday that the trade volume between China and the five countries in the region, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, grew by 116% between 2013 and 2024.
Among those attending today’s summit is Turkmenistan, which shares more than a thousand kilometers of border with Iran, against whom Israel has entered into open conflict with bombings that have left civilian casualties on both sides. EFE