Summit charts course for shared future

Presidents reach consensus in wide range of fields at landmark gathering

China and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to support the establishment of a China-Central Asia energy development partnership to expand full-chain energy cooperation as part of the fruitful achievements of the landmark China-Central Asia Summit, which concluded on Friday.

During the summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, President Xi Jinping, together with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, reached a wide range of new consensuses on cooperation in various fields, including the economy, trade, investment, security and people-to-people exchanges.

They pledged to work together for an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future featuring mutual assistance, common development, universal security and everlasting friendship.

The heads of state of the six countries jointly signed the Xi'an Declaration of the China-Central Asia Summit, adopted a list of summit outcomes, and charted a blueprint for the future development of China-Central Asia relations.

The declaration said that the six countries will further expand their partnership in traditional energy, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal, strengthen renewable energy cooperation, and intensify collaboration in that peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Noting that their energy partnership is an important part of sustainable development in the region, the six countries underlined the importance of a stable energy supply to economic, trade and investment cooperation, and support for speeding up construction of the D line of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, according to the declaration.