The successful second China-Central Asia Summit injects valuable stabilizing force into the world

Editor's Note: Liu Chang is an assistant researcher with the Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Song Danmeng is a PhD candidate at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Everyone who visits Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, for the first time will be shocked by the modernization and beauty of this city built on grassland. After two years, the heads of state of China and Central Asian countries met again to jointly draw up the strategic deployment and planning of China-Central Asia cooperation in the new era and accelerate the construction of a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Since the successful holding of the Xi'an Summit in 2023, China's cooperation with Central Asia has accelerated, economic and trade cooperation has continued to grow, major projects such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway have been accelerated, and personnel exchanges have become more frequent. In March 2024, the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism secretariat was officially launched, and the degree of institutionalization of cooperation between the two sides was further improved, demonstrating both sides' firm belief and determination in cooperation.

At this summit, China and the five Central Asian countries reached a series of consensuses, with the release of cooperation documents, cooperation measures and initiatives. Among the achievements of this series of summits, the following points are worth noting:

First, the proposal of the "China-Central Asia Spirit." The spirit is based on "mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, mutual assistance, and promoting common modernization with high-quality development." Among them, "mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, and mutual assistance" is a summary and refinement of the friendly exchanges between China and Central Asia since the establishment of diplomatic relations, while "promoting common modernization with high-quality development" demonstrates the determination of both sides to adhere to common progress, integrated development, and mutual support.

Secondly, the signing of the treaty of permanent good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation. "This treaty fixes the principle of friendship for generations in legal form. It is a new milestone in the history of relations between the six countries and a pioneering work of China's peripheral diplomacy. Under the strategic guidance of national leadership, China's relations with Central Asian countries have achieved "three full coverages," namely, full coverage of comprehensive strategic partnership, full coverage of practicing the community with a shared future for mankind at the bilateral level, and full coverage of signing cooperation documents for jointly constructing the Belt and Road Initiative. At the Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries in April this year, China pointed out that work is an important foundation for achieving development and prosperity, maintaining national security, planning the overall diplomatic situation, and key to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. This treaty is the inevitable result of long-term friendly cooperation between China and Central Asia, and it is also a reflection of China's diplomatic proposition.

Finally, the results of the summit are comprehensive, pragmatic and future-oriented. At the summit, a total of 55 cooperation documents, 55 cooperation measures and initiatives were reached, yielding substantial outcomes across various fields such as politics, economy, law, and humanities. These outcomes have shaped the course for future China-Central Asia cooperation, injecting strong momentum and fostering greater win-win outcomes. At the summit, the two sides announced that 2025 to 2026 will be the "Years of High-Quality Development of China-Central Asia Cooperation," which will continue to provide direction for bilateral cooperation, truly enhance the well-being of the people of both sides, and promote each other's development in a down-to-earth manner.

The world is undergoing changes unseen in a century, and the instability and uncertainty of the international situation are becoming increasingly prominent. Unilateralism, hegemony, and bullying are extremely harmful, and mankind is once again at the crossroads of unity or division, dialogue or confrontation, win-win cooperation or zero-sum game. The successful convening of this summit has become a bright spot amid global turmoil. It will help create a good external environment for the development of China and Central Asian countries, and inject valuable stabilizing force into the turbulent world.