Kabar
Last week, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov paid a working visit to China, during which he attended the opening of the Winter Olympics and met with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping. A number of issues were raised during the meeting of the two leaders. In addition, Zhaparov invited Xi Jinping to visit Kyrgyzstan.
As predicted by experts, one of the topics touched upon during the visit was the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan road. Besides, various infrastructure projects were debated, and the sides discussed the prospects for cooperation, including in the field of public-private partnership.
The meeting of President Zhaparov with Xi Jinping was held on Feb. 6. The two leaders discussed current issues and prospects of bilateral relations in the political and trade-economic spheres, as well as attracting investment in major joint projects.
“Xi Jinping highly appreciated the contribution of Sadyr Zhaparov to the development of Kyrgyz-Chinese cooperation, stressing that in the 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and China, the comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries has reached an unprecedented level. The Chinese leader noted that major political and economic reforms have been carried out in Kyrgyzstan under the leadership of Sadyr Zhaparov, and a tough fight against corruption is being waged. He added that China has been and remains a reliable friend and neighbor for Kyrgyzstan, expressing confidence in the further strengthening of ties for the benefit of the two peoples,” the press service of the Kyrgyz president said.
It should be emphasized that the Chinese president noted the readiness to import environmentally friendly products from Kyrgyzstan and cooperate in the field of energy. These issues are extremely relevant for Kyrgyzstan. It is not the first year that there have been talks about the possibility of exporting products from Kyrgyzstan to China, because the neighboring market is extremely promising and Kyrgyzstan’s economy is interested in it, especially in post-pandemic times.
In addition, Xi Jinping stressed the need for a phased resumption of air traffic between countries and an increase in cargo traffic, taking into account the adoption of anti-COVID measures. In particular, the need of expanding the capacity of the Torugart and Irkeshtam checkpoints.
“He also noted the importance of building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and intensifying cooperation between the three countries, which is very important for all of Central Asia,” the press service of the Kyrgyz leader reported.
China was one of the first countries to come to the aid to Kyrgyzstan in dealing with the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, China has been providing assistance in the form of personal protective equipment, medical equipment and, of course, vaccines. During Sadyr Zhaparov’s visit, Xi Jinping announced that China had decided to provide Kyrgyzstan with an additional 5 million doses of vaccines against coronavirus and CNY 50 million in free security assistance, expressing its willingness to expand cooperation in various areas.
“In turn, Sadyr Zhaparov noted the symbolism of this meeting, which takes place in the year of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kyrgyzstan and China and the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the countries. In this regard, the Kyrgyz president expressed confidence that these negotiations will give a new impetus to the further development of the Kyrgyz-Chinese relations of comprehensive strategic partnership, and the reached agreements will lay the foundation for further interaction in the coming years,” his press service said.
Regarding joint projects, Zhaparov noted the country’s interest in building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad, and stressed the need to continue working to improve the efficiency of “green corridors” across the Kyrgyz-Chinese border for unhindered imports and exports of goods.
Along with this, he focused on a number of projects that the Kyrgyz side is interested in implementing jointly with Chinese companies on the basis of public-private partnership.
Sadyr Zhaparov supported the intensification of cooperation in the energy sector. In addition, in order to stimulate new projects in relevant sectors of the economy, he proposed the creation of a Kyrgyz-Chinese Investment Fund with a total capital of USD 1 billion, which could finance bilateral projects in the field of small and medium-sized businesses.
The Kyrgyz president also highly appreciated the grant assistance provided by the Chinese government on an ongoing basis for the implementation of socio-economic projects in Kyrgyzstan. In particular, projects based on Chinese grant related to reconstruction of irrigation networks were noted. This project is especially urgent due to low water period in Central Asia.
“Further, the president noted the importance of resuming regular flights between the countries to launch a number of investment projects on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, which were suspended until the epidemiological situation improves. Concluding the conversation, Sadyr Zhaparov invited Xi Jinping to visit Kyrgyzstan,” the press service of the Kyrgyz president reported.
In general, the visit was held as the experts predicted. If the planned projects are implemented, we can indeed say that this visit gave a new impetus to relations between Kyrgyzstan and China.
