AS a milestone summit is about to open, China and five Central Asian countries are set to build a closer community with a shared future and send messages of solidarity, peace and development in a volatile world.

President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia Summit, the first in-person summit among heads of state of China and Central Asian countries, scheduled for today and tomorrow in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. The leaders are expected to draw up new blueprints for China-Central Asia cooperation.

The summit is seen as the latest landmark in the vibrant high-level interactions, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries.

China’s relations with Central Asian countries have become a model for building a new type of international relations.

China and Central Asian countries have supported each other on issues involving sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and firmly supported each other’s development paths and governance models.

They have joined hands to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking. They have also resolutely opposed external interference or attempts to instigate “color revolutions.”

Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become pioneers in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and have built the region into an example of high-quality BRI development. From fully loaded trains to humming production lines and natural gas pipelines, vigorous cooperation has resulted in common development.

A freight train carrying more than 260 new energy vehicles arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, earlier this month. Marking the BRI’s 10th anniversary, the train’s 12-day journey began in Xi’an, the ancient Silk Road’s starting point.

Currently, 17 railway routes connect Xi’an with Central Asian countries and many other Asian and European destinations, with more than 1,100 train trips made in the first quarter of the year.

Roaring trains are the epitome of robust trade between China and Central Asian countries. In 2022, trade volume hit a historic high of US$70.2 billion, up by over 100 times since diplomatic ties were established about three decades ago.

Officials and experts expect that the summit will open a new chapter in China-Central Asia cooperation.

Shu Jueting, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said China will take the summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

The China-Central Asia economic cooperation will be extended to more areas, including e-commerce, digital economy and other new forms of business, said Su Chang, a researcher with the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.(Xinhua)