Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he is attending the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. Ahead of the visit, Xi called for advancing the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project and strengthening both "hard" and "soft" connectivity between the two countries.

Speaking to CGTN's Wang Guan, former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev said the railway would become a new "flagship" of bilateral cooperation, helping transform Central Asia from a region of landlocked countries into one that is increasingly land-connected. He noted that growing cooperation in the digital economy, clean energy and artificial intelligence could help drive joint modernization in both countries.

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Djoomart Otorbaev, former Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan