The China-Central Asia Summit is set to take place in Xi'an, the capital city of China's Shaanxi province on May 18 and 19. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By WANG Xiaoxia

The China-Central Asia Summit is set to take place in Xi'an, the capital city of China's Shaanxi province on May 18 and 19. It is the first summit held offline by the heads of state of the six countries since the establishment of diplomatic ties 31 years ago, and a milestone in the history of the development of relations between China and Central Asian countries, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China and Central Asian countries are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners who have always followed the principles of mutual respect, good neighborliness, friendship, mutual assistance, and win-win cooperation. All sides have benefitted from the high -quality development through coordination under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

For Central Asia, where BRI was first proposed, a number of BRI projects have increased connectivity and modernized local infrastructure. Major projects such as the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline and China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan road-rail transport corridor have been completed, and China-Europe freight trains passing through Central Asia have seen rapid growth.

An all-dimensional connectivity network between China and Central Asia has not only helped Central Asian countries upgrade their industries and improve people's livelihoods, but also laid a solid foundation for stable and smooth Asia-Europe industrial and supply chains.

Projects have gone beyond just infrastructure to other areas such as agriculture and digital economy, with the application of AI, big data and cloud computing.

Chinese research institutes (including the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) have established long-term and stable cooperative relations with their counterparts in Central Asia. China and Kazakhstan have built an agricultural biology laboratory, a big data analysis center and an agricultural mechanization center. In April, more than 80 participants from the Central Asian countries attended the training course hosted by China on advanced and green agricultural technologies.

China's poverty reduction and rural development experience are worth learning from, said Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, while visiting China on April 18. Uzbekistan is willing to work with China to propel bilateral cooperation in poverty reduction and benefit more people from both countries, said Kuchkarov.