Xi urges jointly coping with challenges

President Xi Jinping left Beijing on Wednesday to visit Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. He will also attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia during the trip.

President Xi called for joint efforts from China and Kyrgyzstan to cope with the challenges arising from the changing world to ensure their ties remain stable and see healthy development.

Xi made the remark on Tuesday in a signed article published by Kyrgyz National News Agency Kabar and the Slovo Kyrgyzstana newspaper one day ahead of his state visit to the Central Asian nation.

During his stay, Xi will also attend the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

Saying bilateral ties have stood the test of time amid an unpredictable international landscape, Xi called the two countries truly good neighbors, friends, partners and brothers with their mutual political trust consolidating, pragmatic cooperation deepening and cultural and people-to-people exchanges growing closer.

Given that the world is facing great changes unseen in a century, China and Kyrgyzstan should join hands to deal with the challenges, he said.

Xi said he wants to avail himself of this visit to work with Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov to map out a blueprint for the future development of the countries' comprehensive strategic partnership, and to move forward their relations and cooperation in various fields to a new stage.

The Chinese president highlighted that China stands ready to enhance strategic mutual trust with Kyrgyzstan, continue to firmly support each other on issues related to their respective core interests and safeguard their common strategic security and development interests.

Xi called for strengthening the countries' cooperation on joint building of the Belt and Road, stepping up alignment of their development strategies, intensifying partnership in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure construction and connectivity, and promoting trade and investment facilitation.

He underlined the need for both countries to boost security cooperation saying they should work together to fight against the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism as well as combat drug trafficking and cross-border crimes so as to create a safe environment of harmony and stability in the region.

While urging the two countries to expand cultural exchanges to build even closer people-to-people bonds, Xi also called on them to jointly safeguard the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, uphold multilateralism, advance economic globalization and promote the building of a new type of international relations as well as a community with shared future for mankind.

Xi also hailed the significant role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in promoting regional stability and prosperity. Kyrgyzstan took over the rotating presidency of the regional body after the SCO Qingdao Summit last year.

He trusts the Bishkek Summit will generate fruitful outcomes to help the SCO make greater headway and deliver more benefits to peoples across the region, he added.