Supreme Leader: No matter how the international situation changes and how far China develops in the future, China will always be a good neighbor, good partner, good friend and good brother that Central Asian countries can trust and rely on. China firmly supports Central Asian countries in taking a development path that suits their national conditions, firmly supports countries in safeguarding their sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, firmly supports countries in pursuing national rejuvenation, unity and self-improvement, and firmly supports countries in playing a greater role in the international arena. China is willing to join hands with Central Asian countries to build a closer China — Central Asian destiny community.

　　This passage is from the speech delivered by the Chairman of the Supreme Leader at the video summit of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries on January 25th, 2022.

　　China and Central Asian countries are linked by mountains and rivers. As early as more than 2,000 years ago, the two sides established business contacts and cultural exchanges through the ancient Silk Road, with a long history of exchanges and friendship. In 1992, China took the lead in formally establishing diplomatic relations with five newly independent Central Asian countries, which opened a new era of friendly exchanges between the two sides. Over the past 31 years, China and the five Central Asian countries have continuously deepened political mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, and embarked on a new path of mutual respect, good neighborliness, mutual help and mutual benefit. Especially since the Chairman of the Supreme Leader put forward the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt in Kazakhstan for the first time in 2013, China and Central Asian countries have jointly opened up a broader space for cooperation under the framework of jointly building the Belt and Road, and the exchanges in energy, economy, trade, transportation, agriculture, science and technology, education, culture and other fields have been deepened and deepened, which has further promoted the interconnection of regional countries and brought about the transformation and development of Central Asian countries and enhanced regional influence.

　　In mid-May this year, Xi ‘an, Shaanxi Province opened two international routes to Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, which achieved full coverage of passenger routes from Xi ‘an to five Central Asian countries, further facilitated personnel exchanges between China and Central Asian countries, and was conducive to better promoting tourism development and cultural exchanges between the two sides. In recent years, as domestic cities such as Xi ‘an, Shanghai, Shaoxing and Langfang have successively opened freight trains to Central Asian countries, more and more high-quality and high-end "Made in China" products have been transported to the Central Asian market, and the special products of countries along the Silk Road, such as melons, sunflower oil and milk powder, have also entered the China market. In 2022, the trade volume between China and the five Central Asian countries was about US$ 70.2 billion, up about 40% year-on-year, up about 100 times compared with the time when diplomatic relations were established, reaching a record high. In the first three months of this year, the bilateral trade volume increased by 22% year-on-year, with a strong development momentum. At present, China has become an important trading partner of five Central Asian countries. At the same time, China’s investment in five Central Asian countries has also increased rapidly. By the end of 2022, the stock of direct investment exceeded 15 billion US dollars. Bilateral cooperation projects in oil and gas mining, processing and manufacturing, digital technology, wind power generation and other fields have effectively promoted local economic development and industrial transformation and upgrading, and brought more opportunities for long-term employment and skills training to local people. From exchange of overseas students to joint archaeology, from mutual translation of literary works to mutual screening of film and television dramas … … The increasingly close cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Central Asian countries have deepened the friendship between the two sides, which has lasted for thousands of years.

　　May 18th to 19th, the first China — The Central Asia Summit was held in Xi ‘an. This is the first time that the heads of state of China and Central Asia have held a summit in the form of entity since the establishment of diplomatic relations, which is a milestone in the development history of bilateral relations. We firmly believe that China and Central Asian countries will take this summit as an opportunity to further expand all-round cooperation and continue to work together to build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, in order to build a closer China — The Central Asian destiny community has made new and greater contributions.

　　Interpretation of this issue: Chen Ruihai Yang Guangwang commentator