Excerpts of reports from media in Central Asia

Turkmenistan State News Agency (Turkmenistan)

The China-Central Asia Summit on Thursday and Friday in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an will open a new epoch in relations between the five countries of Central Asia and China. Well-known think tanks and political scientists have given an assessment of the summit.

According to the experts, the main vectors of cooperation between states in this format are energy, transportation, logistics, investment and trade, and economic spheres.

In fact, the participation of Turkmenistan in the summit provides the energy component of the partnership of states in this format.

The Astana Times (Kazakhstan)

Strengthening regional economic ties will be the main subject of discussions in Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to China, a senior expert at the Institute of World Economy and Politics, Yersultan Zhanseitov, said in an interview. "We have a long history of cooperation with China. In the current times, when the geopolitical situation in Eurasia and in the world is changing, Kazakhstan will be upgrading its national strategy toward China."

Pravda Vostoka (Uzbekistan)

The state visit to China (by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev) testifies to the high level of bilateral relations and the commitment to further deepening the strategic partnership.

The continuation of the Uzbek-Chinese mutually beneficial strategic dialogue is intended to be a new format for cooperation — the multilateral China-Central Asia meeting, which is being held in the city of Xi'an.

Central Asian countries are successfully cooperating with China, including within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Central Asian states highly appreciate China's unique experience in public administration, economic development and poverty reduction, and are interested in developing comprehensive, mutually beneficial cooperation.

Jibek Joly TV (Kazakhstan)

The China-Central Asia Summit will give new impetus to the interaction among the participating states. Central Asian countries and China recognize the importance of strengthening ties and are ready to expand mutually beneficial relations, experts noted.

"I believe that the China-Central Asia Summit will start a new chapter for cooperation between the Central Asian countries and China, strengthening key areas of partnership, including the development of transportation infrastructure," said Bekzhan Sadykov, spokesman for the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies.

Khovar (Tajikistan)

For both China and Central Asia, securing their shared border of over 3,300 kilometers is vital for national security and economic planning. Equally imperative for both is to rid the neighborhood of the perennial menaces of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Tajikistan became the first of the five Central Asian nations to sign Belt and Road Initiative cooperation documents with China, a move soon followed by the four other countries. The BRI builds big infrastructure projects, such as the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan International Highway and the Qamchiq Tunnel.