URUMQI, Nov 6 (APP): The 12th China-Central Asia Cooperation Forum opened Thursday in Urumqi, bringing together delegates from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Participants reached a broad consensus to deepen cooperation and build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future, focusing on trade, green development, security, and regional connectivity.
Organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Good Neighborliness and Cooperation Committee and the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the event has the theme of “Promoting the ‘China-Central Asia Spirit’ and Advancing Common Modernization”.
Shen Yueyue, vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and president of the Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, attended the ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.
Shen highlighted that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee has outlined China’s development goals for the next five years, which will create new opportunities for Central Asian nations.
An initiative adopted at the forum emphasized strengthening mutual trust and support, while advancing the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, Global Civilization Initiative, and Global Governance Initiative. It also called for expanding practical cooperation in trade, industrial investment, connectivity, green minerals, modern agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges.
To ensure regional stability, the initiative urged enhanced collaboration in security and law enforcement, joint efforts to counter extremist ideologies, and a firm stance against the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism, and extremism.
Officials from Central Asian countries praised the forum’s practical outcomes and its theme of “promoting the China-Central Asia Spirit and advancing common modernization.”
Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Bakyt Torobayev stated that the proposals and initiatives discussed would inject fresh momentum into China-Central Asia cooperation. He noted that the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism has evolved into a key framework for dialogue, coordination, and collective action to achieve sustainable regional development.
Tajikistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Dilrabo Mansouri said the partnership between China and Central Asia has reached unprecedented levels, improving both in scale and quality. She emphasized that the relationship, built on mutual respect and benefit, forms a solid foundation for shared prosperity.
Mansouri added that both sides aim to increase their total trade volume to $100 billion in the near future, with China already serving as one of the region’s largest and most reliable investors, supporting major infrastructure and joint industrial projects.
About 300 guests from China, the five Central Asian countries and international organizations participated in the activities, such as an exhibition on the achievements of local cooperation and four sub-forums that addressed trade and economy, education, poverty reduction and women’s issues.