2023-05-09 00:54
Source: CCTV News Client
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In the middle of Asia, west of Xinjiang, there are five Central Asian countries, with a total of about 4 million square kilometers of land connected to the mainland mountains and rivers, and the common border of more than 3,000 kilometers stretches the exchanges and mutual learning of different civilizations in human history. Just this May, the leaders of China and the five Central Asian countries will gather in Xi'an, the mainland, and according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the China-Central Asia Summit will be held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province on May 18-19.
Central Asia is the first place to initiate the "Belt and Road". In the ancient city of Xi'an, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, the hosting of the China-Central Asia Summit is undoubtedly of great significance. What are the expectations for the upcoming summit? And how will we work together to build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future?
The five Central Asian countries are transportation hubs connecting the Eurasian continent
The five Central Asian countries include: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which are located at the junction of the Eurasian continent and are the transportation hub connecting the Eurasian continent. The total area of the five Central Asian countries is about 4 million square kilometers, of which Tajikistan is the smallest and Kazakhstan is the largest.
Last year, the scale of China's trade with the five Central Asian countries reached a new high
The geographical proximity gives China a natural advantage in cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, and in recent years, China and the five Central Asian countries have become increasingly close in economic and trade exchanges. Data show that in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries reached US$70.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of about 40%, a record high, and direct investment continued to remain stable. In the first two months of this year, China's trade volume with Central Asia increased by 22% year-on-year, and the development momentum is strong.
In addition, last year, China's imports of agricultural products, energy products and mineral products from Central Asian countries increased by more than 50% year-on-year, exports of mechanical and electrical products to Central Asian countries increased by 42% year-on-year, and cross-border e-commerce trade between China and Central Asia increased by 95% year-on-year. China has become one of the five important economic and trade partners of the five Central Asian countries. In May, China and the five Central Asian countries will also hold e-commerce live shopping activities to promote high-quality products from the five Central Asian countries to Chinese consumers.
China and the five Central Asian countries continue to deepen cooperation to benefit the people of all parties
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the five Central Asian countries 31 years ago, China has continued to deepen pragmatic economic and trade cooperation and achieved solid and heavy results. It is the people of China and the five Central Asian countries who benefit.
Households in some parts of China, turning on natural gas, the blue flame burns natural gas from Central Asian countries to China through the 1,833-kilometer-long China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Chinese-aided Osh Hospital has improved the surrounding medical environment and solved the problem of local residents' difficulty in seeing a doctor.
In Tajikistan, the breakthrough of the Yawan-Wahdat railway bridge tunnel built with the assistance of the Chinese side has turned the railway between the north and south of Tajikistan into a thoroughfare.
The China-Kazakhstan Korgas International Border Cooperation Center, which straddles the border between China and Kazakhstan, has been completed and put into operation, and the former remote area has become an "international dry port".
In Uzbekistan, industrial parks and factories built by the Chinese side have been put into operation to promote local employment.
China has maintained its position as Turkmenistan's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years.
The Belt and Road Initiative promotes connectivity between China and the five Central Asian countries
2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, Central Asia is the first place to initiate the Belt and Road Initiative, and Xi'an is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, from which the Silk Road stretched for thousands of miles more than 2,000 years ago, connecting the friendly exchanges between China and Central Asia. The upcoming China-Central Asia Summit will bring together leaders from all over the world in the ancient capital of Xi'an, which will also give the China-Central Asia Summit more significance.
Not long ago, the launching ceremony of the Chang'an Xi'an-Central Asia special train on the 10th anniversary of the "Belt and Road" China-Europe Express was also held in the Xi'an International Port Area. In November 2013, the first European train Chang'an departed from here and bound for Kazakhstan. In the past ten years, the Chang'an has operated more than 16,000 trains. Among them, the five Central Asian countries have operated 4,250 trains, and the transported goods cover different types such as automobiles, grain, daily necessities, intangible cultural heritage and creativity, etc., which has effectively promoted the interconnection between China and the five Central Asian countries. At present, China and Central Asian countries have signed cooperation documents on jointly building the "Belt and Road". By the end of last year, China's direct investment in the five Central Asian countries had reached nearly US$15 billion, and the formation of a major international transport corridor had accelerated.
Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The pattern we have formed now is an all-round, wide-ranging and multi-level cooperation pattern. Cooperation has been promoted in the political, economic, security and humanistic fields. Head-of-state diplomacy plays a strategic leading role here. Therefore, through the China-Central Asia Summit, we can make very long-term strategic planning and promote docking and cooperation under the framework of the "Belt and Road", which is beneficial to China and Central Asia, and will bring tangible benefits to the economic development of Eurasia and even the world. I think this kind of cooperation between Central Asian countries and China can become a kind of model, and we can first build a regional community of common destiny through our efforts, and promote the realization of the goal of a community with a shared future for mankind through this way.
The China-Central Asia Summit is an important diplomatic event
How do we see the importance of this summit? What can you expect from the outcome of the Summit? Let's listen to the interpretation of special commentator Su Xiaohui.
Su Xiaohui: The China-Central Asia Summit is an important diplomatic event for China this year. This is also the first time that China has held an important home multilateral diplomatic event after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and this year's National People's Congress, so its significance is self-evident.
Su Xiaohui: We will see that China and Central Asian countries attach great importance to the development of relations, and the summit is a consensus reached by all parties and an important starting point for deepening cooperation and starting again. In January last year, China and the five Central Asian countries held a video summit for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and in February, the leaders of the five Central Asian countries came to Beijing to support the Beijing Winter Olympics. Therefore, in recent years, the relationship between China and Central Asia has been constantly moving forward. From China's point of view, in the process of promoting the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries, it embodies the concept of neighboring diplomacy of affinity, sincerity, benefit and tolerance, which is the continuous development of China's diplomacy and the concrete embodiment of major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. We will see the expectation of this summit, all parties hope to achieve fruitful results, all-round cooperation and promote the construction of a community of common destiny will be the core.
Su Xiaohui: Speaking of all-round cooperation, the five Central Asian countries have been observing China's development achievements in the process of development, so they also hope that strengthening cooperation with China can realize more development opportunities and further promote major projects and intergovernmental cooperation between China and Central Asia. At the same time, when it comes to the construction of a community of common destiny, destiny and common destiny are increasingly deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and in the process of building a community, it is clear that China and important countries will continue to advance from all aspects, whether it is strengthening political mutual trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation, or maintaining regional security, and more consensus will be gathered in the process of promoting the construction of a community of common destiny.