Unity and peace at the heart of Xi Jinping's agenda at the SCO

Beijing is keen to work for a new consensus and greater solidarity, peace and prosperity among member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as President Xi Jinping is set to begin his Central Asia tour on Tuesday and attend the SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, officials and experts said.

The upcoming summit in the Kazakh capital is the most important event within the SCO framework this year.

At the meeting, Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with leaders of participating countries on deepening cooperation in various fields under the new circumstances, as well as major international and regional issues, and the summit will map out plans for the development of the SCO in the near future.

“China believes that this summit will help build more consensus, open a new chapter of cooperation, and contribute to the security, stability, development and prosperity of all countries and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday.

The SCO keeps its doors open to the outside world and its cooperation is not directed against third parties, said Sun Zhuangzhi, director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“This creates the conditions for the economic development of the region and the resumption of international trade in the post-pandemic era,” he added.

Following the Astana summit, China will take over the rotating SCO chairmanship for 2024-25, seven years after its last SCO chairmanship.

“China attaches great importance to the chairmanship and has fully started preparations,” Mao said, adding that China is willing to work with various parties to deepen cooperation and promote the high-quality development of the grouping.

The aim is “to bring greater benefits to the people of the region and to contribute more to lasting peace and common prosperity in the world,” she said.

During his tour, which runs through Saturday, Xi will also make state visits to two of China's Central Asian neighbors, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

During his state visits, Xi will hold talks with the two heads of state and have in-depth exchanges of views on respective bilateral relations, cooperation in priority areas, as well as the international and regional situation.

China-Kazakhstan relations are at their best since the two countries established diplomatic ties more than 30 years ago, with the two heads of state maintaining regular interactions, observers noted.

The upcoming state visit marks Xi Jinping's fifth trip to Kazakhstan as president.

“We believe that President Xi Jinping's visit will further promote the quality and improvement of China-Kazakhstan relations, enrich the connotation of high-quality cooperation between the two countries in building the Belt and Road, and further improve the well-being of the two peoples,” said Mao, the spokesperson.

China has become Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. Trade between the two countries has reached record highs, with the annual trade volume reaching $41 billion last year, up 32 percent from the previous year.

“Based on the trade data for the first quarter of 2024, both sides are very optimistic in their projections for trade growth this year,” Kazakhstani Ambassador to China Shakhrat Nuryshev said in a recent interview with People’s Daily.

Zhang Xiao, Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, said President Xi's visit will enhance the two countries' traditional friendship, consolidate good-neighborly relations, enhance political mutual trust, improve mutually beneficial cooperation and open up a better future.

“This will surely inject a powerful driving force into the development of China-Kazakhstan relations and regional stability and prosperity,” he said.

Tajikistan is a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of China, and the upcoming trip to Tajikistan will be Xi Jinping's second state visit to the country in five years.

In May last year, Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon held talks in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, and jointly announced the plan to build a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring eternal friendship, solidarity, mutual support and mutual benefit.

“China hopes to work with Tajikistan to take advantage of this visit to further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen high-quality cooperation in jointly building the Belt and Road, and promote people-to-people ties,” Mao said.

Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan Ji Shumin said that in the more than 30 years since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, the ties “have always maintained healthy and stable development” in the face of an ever-changing international situation.

China and Tajikistan “have always been at the forefront of building a community with a shared future for mankind,” and under the strategic leadership of the two heads of state, the relationship has “made great strides in development,” he said at a seminar last month.