Japarov: Kyrgyzstan-China ties enter a new golden period

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov described relations with China as entering a “new, golden period” during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Kyrgyzstan.

Japarov thanked Xi for coming to the country and said the visit, including Xi’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, would become an important milestone in bilateral relations. He said the two countries had developed a comprehensive strategic partnership in a new era and reached a historically high level of cooperation.

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Cooperation between our countries has entered a new, golden period of development.

The Kyrgyz president also offered condolences to Xi and the Chinese people over the deaths caused by a mudflow in Tibet. He said Kyrgyzstan attached great importance to centuries of friendship and good-neighborly relations with China, pointing to ties that he said dated back to the seventh century.

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China is our good neighbor, close friend, and time-tested reliable partner.

Japarov linked those historical connections to modern infrastructure and trade. Kyrgyzstan, once part of the Great Silk Road, is working with China to open new border checkpoints and build roads and railways, he said. He added that Bishkek was ready to contribute further to projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

China is one of Kyrgyzstan’s main foreign-policy priorities and its leading trade and investment partner, Japarov said. He called China a “good neighbor, close friend, and time-tested reliable partner.” The treaty being signed during Xi’s visit, he said, would provide a foundation for further development of the strategic partnership.

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The Treaty of Eternal Good-Neighborliness, Friendship, and Cooperation being signed today creates a solid foundation for the further high-quality development of a comprehensive strategic partnership.