Ties with SCO partners praised

President Xi Jinping praised increasing bilateral partnerships and cooperation while meeting separately on Wednesday with the leaders of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The meetings with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov were held on the sidelines of the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

When meeting with Mirziyoyev, Xi said the China-Uzbekistan relationship entered a new phase starting in January, when the two heads of state jointly decided to elevate bilateral ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era and to promote the construction of a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future from a higher starting point.

"Be it China's drive to accelerate Chinese modernization or the Uzbekistan-2030 strategy, the purpose of these great visions is quite simple, that is, to ensure a better life for the people," Xi said, vowing to work with the Uzbek side for the common good of the two countries and peoples to promote the high-quality development of China-Uzbekistan relations.

He also reiterated China's firm support for Uzbekistan in safeguarding its national independence, sovereignty, and security, and said China will always be a trustworthy friend and partner to Uzbekistan.

After talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Xi and Aliyev announced that the China-Azerbaijan relationship would be elevated to a strategic partnership, as the two countries agreed to expand cooperation in political, economic, cultural, and other fields as well as contribute to regional and global peace, stability and development.

Calling China and Azerbaijan sincere and trustworthy friends, and equal and mutually beneficial partners, Xi said the bilateral relationship has maintained healthy and stable development, with cooperation yielding fruitful results.

Starting from the new point of a strategic partnership, Xi said he believes the two sides "will surely continue to increase mutual support for each other and deliver more benefits to their peoples".

According to a joint statement released after their meeting, China welcomes Azerbaijan's efforts to strengthen cooperation with the SCO and supports Azerbaijan, now an SCO dialogue partner, in enhancing its legal status within the organization.

In his meeting with the Kyrgyz president, Xi said the consensuses that he and Japarov reached in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in May 2023 on China-Kyrgyzstan relations and cooperation in various fields have been effectively implemented over the past year.

"Good news about China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation has come one after another," he said, citing a Chinese saying that neighbors wish each other well, just as loved ones do.

Xi said China is pleased to see the steady development of Kyrgyzstan and will continue to firmly support the nation in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

China firmly supports Kyrgyzstan in following a successful development path that suits its national conditions under the leadership of Japarov, and it resolutely opposes any forces interfering in Kyrgyzstan's internal affairs under any pretext, he said.

"We are willing to join hands with Kyrgyzstan to deepen the alignment of development strategies, expand sharing of governance experience, and promote all-around mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.