Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Uzbekistan on Wednesday, state media said, ahead of a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here (in Samarkand) on Wednesday evening to pay an official visit to Uzbekistan and attend the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State,” state news agency Xinhua said.
The SCO – established in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to counter Western institutions – brings together Xi and Putin, as well as the leaders of India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet Central Asian countries. will do
Xi Jinping was met at the airport by officials including Uzbek President Shaukat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Abdullah Aripov, Xinhua said.
The Chinese leader was to “deepen bilateral cooperation, and discuss regional and international issues of common interest” with Mirziyoyev, he said, adding that Xi “looks forward to attending the SCO Samarkand summit, and to further So want to work together with all parties. Shanghai spirit.”
Xi flew from Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan to Samarkand, where he met with President Qasim Jomart Tokayev in his first overseas trip since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
There, the Chinese president vowed full support for the Central Asian nation, which is troubled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kazakhstan is part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a trillion-dollar effort to improve trade links around the world by building historic infrastructure.
