China and the five Central Asian countries vowed on Wednesday to safeguard regional peace and stability as Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the third China + Central Asia (C+C5) foreign ministers' meeting in Kazakhstan.

Speaking at the press conference along with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Wang highlighted the results and consensus reached at the meeting.

According to Wang, China and the five Central Asian countries agreed to establish a mechanism of regular meetings between heads of state of C+C5 countries.

The Chinese foreign minister noted that the six countries agreed to uphold the principles of mutual respect, good-neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times and mutual benefit to forge an independent, peaceful, prosperous and cooperative Central Asia,

The two sides will continue to pursue the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), improve all-round cooperation, expand local currency settlement and enhance connectivity, Wang added.

The six countries also vowed to uphold security in both traditional and non-traditional fields and work together to combat the "three evil forces" (terrorism, extremism and separatism), he said.

Wang also said China and the five Central Asian countries will continue to promote solidarity against the COVID-19 pandemic and take active part in the cooperation on research and development (R&D) of COVID-19 vaccine and treatment drugs.

The two sides will coordinate positions on the Afghan situation in a timely manner, promote peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan and support Uzbekistan in hosting the fourth meeting of foreign ministers' meeting of neighboring countries of Afghanistan, he told reporters.

Wang added that the six countries will deepen cooperation in diverse fields including education, technology, arts, sports, tourism, poverty elimination and green development.

According to the Chinese foreign minister, China and Central Asian countries pledged to continue to support each other on issues related to each other's core interests, jointly practice Global Security Initiative and Global Development Initiative, and contribute to global governance.

He mentioned that the two sides will further improve C+C5 cooperation mechanism, and actively carry out exchanges and dialogues in the fields including political parties, economy and trade, investment, localities and think tanks to fully release the potential of cooperation among the six countries.

China will continuously deepen political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation with Central Asian partners, and join hands to build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future, Wang stressed.

Five-point proposal

At the meeting, the Chinese foreign minister also put forward a five-point proposal for China and Central Asia to strengthen cooperation and coordination facing a world in turmoil.

Noting that the mechanism of regular meetings for heads of state of C+C5 countries is of great strategic significance, Wang voiced the necessity of giving full play to the guiding role of head-of-state diplomacy.

Referring to the engine driving the post-COVID-19 economic recovery, the Chinese foreign minister pointed out that the six countries should accelerate the docking of development strategies, expand cooperation in emerging areas and explore new ways of modern agricultural cooperation and financial cooperation.

Wang called on the six countries to deepen security cooperation in constructing the Belt and Road, building multi-tiered defense against the COVID-19, production safety and disaster management as well as enhancing emergency management capabilities.

He also called for more diversified paths in expanding people-to-people exchanges and urged the six countries to safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, practice genuine multilateralism, promote the common values of all humankind, and support countries in safeguarding their own core interests.

The meeting on Wednesday adopted four outcome documents, including the Joint Statement on C+C5 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Roadmap for the Implementation of the Consensus Reached at the Virtual Summit between China and Central Asian Countries, the Initiative on Deepening C+C5 Connectivity Cooperation, and the Data Security Cooperation Initiative of C+C5.