BISHKEK - Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Central Asia is significant to promote friendship and cooperation between China and the countries in the region, a senior Chinese diplomat said Friday.

The visit is also important to boost the healthy and stable development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), said Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping.

The visit saw upgrade of the relationships between China and Central Asian nations and allowed the president to elaborate on China's policy toward the region, Cheng told a press briefing in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, where an SCO summit was held on Friday.

Major progress was made in energy cooperation, and strategic coordination and security cooperation were expanded, he said.

He also said that the Chinese president and other participating leaders at the SCO summit compared notes on major international and region affairs, and made blueprints for the organization's future development.

Speaking of the SCO summit's accomplishments, Cheng said the Bishkek summit has once again demonstrated the bloc's resolve to strive for regional stability and security, promote regional prosperity, and help establish a just international order.

He also said that the establishment of an SCO committee on good neighborliness and friendly cooperation, a decision announced by China at the summit, will further promote mutual understanding among the peoples in the region, and consolidate the social foundation for future development of the organization.