China, Kyrgyzstan agree to further boost cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) holds talks with Kyrgyz Prime Minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, on Wednesday agreed to further boost cooperation between the two countries in a variety of fields.

Li is in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek for an official visit to the central Asian country and the 15th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

China and Kyrgyzstan are friendly neighbors and strategic partners with solid mutual political trust, close high-level contacts, rapidly growing pragmatic cooperation and active people-to-people exchanges, Li said during a meeting with Jeenbekov.

China supports Kyrgyzstan's efforts in seeking a development path that is compatible with its national circumstances and in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.

He added that his country is also willing to translate the high-level mutual political trust with Kyrgyzstan into more substantial cooperation results, so as to promote sustained, sound and comprehensive development of bilateral ties and cooperation.

The two economies are highly complementary to each other with abundant points of converging interests and great potentials for cooperation, said the premier.

China is willing to conjoin the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Kyrgyzstan's development strategy, make earnest efforts to push forward production capacity cooperation, strengthen cooperation in transport and other infrastructure building, and conduct cooperation in agriculture as a whole and intensive processing of agricultural products, Li said.

The premier called upon the two sides to enhance cooperation in the fields of information communications, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Li also expressed his hope that Kyrgyzstan will further improve its investment environment, so as to make it easier for Chinese companies to invest and start businesses in the country.

For his part, Jeenbekov hailed the high-level bilateral relations between Kyrgyzstan and China, saying Kyrgyzstan is willing to further increase political dialogues with China and boost the building of the Belt and Road through bilateral economic cooperation.

Jeenbekov pointed to production capacity, investment, light textile, telecommunications, small and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, water conservancy irrigation, air transportation, and emergency disaster relief as the areas where the two countries should conduct cooperation.

Kyrgyzstan is also willing to carry forward the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway project and highway projects in Bishkek, so as to lift the economic and trade relations between the two countries to higher levels and bring benefits to the two peoples, the Kyrgyz prime minister said.

Jeenbekov also said his country is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with China within the framework of the SCO and other multilateral institutions.

After the meeting, the two leaders signed and released a joint communique between the two countries and witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents in such fields as economy, technology, production capacity, transport, agriculture and intellectual property rights.

Kyrgyzstan is the first leg of Li's ongoing eight-day four-country tour, which will also take him to Kazakhstan, Latvia and Russia.