China’s Wang Yi visits Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to strengthen ties
Wang Yi’s tour seeks to expand China’s presence in central Asia through diplomacy, trade, infrastructure and regional partnership initiatives.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is embarking on a three-nation tour of Central Asia to hold a strategic dialogue, an official statement said on Monday.
Wang will visit Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan on November 19-22, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
He will meet with his counterparts Kulubaev Zheenbek Moldokanovic, Saidov Bakhtiyor Odilovich, and Sirojiddin Muhriddin, respectively, in Bishkek, Tashkent, and Dushanbe, it added.
‘Eternal’ friendship
The visit follows a high-profile summit in Kazakhstan on June, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan signed a “Treaty on Eternal Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation,” officially declaring the nations’ “eternal” friendship.
At the summit, Xi emphasised closer ties with the resource-rich region, calling for strengthened cooperation in infrastructure, clean energy, green minerals, and artificial intelligence.
Central Asia has historically been under Russian influence, but Beijing has increasingly asserted itself as the region’s leading trading partner, surpassing both Russia and the European Union.
Through initiatives like the Belt and Road, China is investing in major infrastructure projects, including the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway and the China-Tajikistan highway, while developing new border crossings and logistics hubs such as Khorgos in Kazakhstan.