Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and attending the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. Ahead of the visit, Xi called for advancing the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and strengthening both "hard" and "soft" connectivity between the two countries. Speaking to CGTN's Wang Guan, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Djoomart Otorbaev said the railway will become a new "flag" of bilateral cooperation and could transform Central Asia countries from "landlocked" to "land-connected." He said growing cooperation in the digital economy, clean energy and artificial intelligence will drive both countries to achieve modernization jointly.