Premier to attend SCO meeting, visit Kyrgyzstan

Premier Li Qiang will attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, and pay an official visit to the Central Asian country next week, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

The four-day trip, starting on Tuesday, comes at a time when regional countries expect the SCO to make greater contributions to safeguarding their security and development interests amid an increasingly complex international landscape.

Li will have in-depth discussions with other participants on implementing the consensus reached at the SCO summit in July, promoting the organization's development strategy and formulating practical measures for cooperation in areas such as security, the economy and trade, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges, Mao said.

"It is believed that the meeting will provide greater assistance to regional security, stability and development," Mao told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Established in 2001, the regional grouping now consists of nine members that cover a third of the world's population, namely, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Iran.

During his visit to Kyrgyzstan, Li will meet with Kyrgyz leaders and exchange views with them on implementing the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in May.

During a meeting on the sidelines of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, in May, the two announced the elevation of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era.

Noting that Li's visit will be the first there by a Chinese premier in seven years, Mao said it will be of great significance to promoting the development of Sino-Kyrgyz relations, deepening practical cooperation and building closer ties between the two peoples.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992, the two countries have enjoyed a healthy and stable relationship, a high degree of political mutual trust and fruitful results in jointly building the Belt and Road.

Statistics from the General Administration of Customs show that two-way trade between China and Kyrgyzstan in the first eight months of this year reached $12 billion, with a year-on-year increase of 27.9 percent.