By Du Dewen
On Jun.12, Chinese President Xi Jinping started his trip to Kyrgyzstan for a state visit and the 19th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. He will hold discussions with SCO heads of state on the development of the organization as well as the future of regional cooperation.
China and Kyrgyzstan are friendly neighbors. They have maintained sound and stable development of bilateral relations since the establishment of their diplomatic ties 27 years ago.
The two countries witnessed constantly consolidated political mutual trust, comprehensively promoted pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade, and cultural exchanges, as well as continuously expanded and deepened security cooperation.
Head-of-state diplomacy plays a fundamental role in the continuous development of China-Kyrgyzstan relations. In September 2013, China and Kyrgyzstan established strategic partnership when President Xi paid his first state visit to Kyrgyzstan. The strategic partnership was later lifted to a comprehensive strategic partnership last June during the first state visit of Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov to China.
Today, President Xi’s second state visit to Kyrgyzstan and his attendance at the SCO summit will inject strong impetus into the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and usher in a new chapter of their efforts to build a community with a shared future.
In recent years, the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has opened up broad prospects for China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation in various areas.
As one of the earliest supporters and participants of the BRI, Kyrgyzstan regards the joint construction of the BRI as a new opportunity to seek cooperation and promote development.
In the past April, President Jeenbekov attended the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Bejing, during which the two heads of state agreed to enhance the alignment between the BRI and the 2040 National Sustainable Development Strategy of Kyrgyzstan to achieve more fruits in the bilateral friendly cooperation and bring more benefits to the people of the two countries.
Both sides will earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and take joint construction of the BRI as a great opportunity to boost all-round mutually beneficial cooperation.
As founding members of the SCO, China and Kyrgyzstan have carried out productive bilateral cooperation and multilateral cooperation within the framework of the SCO.
Last June, the first SCO summit after the expansion of the organization was successfully held in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, marking a new starting point for higher stage of development of the SCO.
Over the past year, each party concerned has actively implemented the outcomes of the SCO Qingdao summit.
Since assuming the SCO rotating presidency, Kyrgyzstan has delivered on its commitments earnestly, endeavoring to promote the implementation of various new initiatives and new measures.
In April 2019, a meeting of SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group was held in Bishkek, further reinforced the coordination of the SCO on issues concerning Afghanistan.
In the past several months, the Defense Ministers’ Meeting of the Member States of the SCO, the SCO Security Council Secretaries meeting, and the meeting of SCO Council of Foreign Minister were held successively. During the meetings, various parties had in-depth exchanges of views on SCO cooperation in diplomacy, security, economy and trade, technology, and culture. These meetings helped deepen political consensus, expand pragmatic and security cooperation, and improve SCO’s international influence, laying a solid foundation for the SCO Bishkek summit.
The SCO has also held a number of other events under the framework of the organization that further strengthened the connection and friendship among SCO members, such as media forum, women’s forum, and the International Issyk-Kul Marathon of the SCO.
The ideas of building a new type of international relations, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and the joint construction of the BRI have won wide support in member states of the SCO.
By actively promoting the alignment of development strategies, the parties concerned have opened up a vast space and created bright prospects for win-win cooperation of the SCO. The cooperation on the joint construction of the BRI has brought tangible benefits to the people of relevant countries.
Practice has proved that the SCO is a new type of dynamic and influential organization for regional cooperation. It regards “Shanghai Spirit” as its original aspiration and the source of vitality.
At present, when the international and regional economic and security situation is undergoing complicated and profound changes, the SCO comes to a new starting point.
It’s believed that the SCO Bishkek summit, while pressing ahead with the direction and goals of the organization, especially the ones set at the SCO Qingdao summit, will chart the course for future development of the organization, formulate a community with shared goals in safeguarding security and development, and promote the development of the SCO community with a shared future.
(Du Dewen is the Chinese ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.)
