Chinese president on Central Asian tour

Chinese president has started his Central Asian tour by arriving in Kyrgyzstan, hoping to boost Beijing’s presence in the energy-rich region.

President Hu Jintao’s three-nation tour of ex-Soviet neighbors is for a summit and war games officially focused on fighting terrorism.

Hu is to meet senior officials including President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ahead of a summit on Thursday of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a six-nation security and economic group.

He is to attend military exercises in Russia on Friday with other SCO heads of state, before visiting the energy-rich Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

"The Central Asian countries clearly want to have more interaction with China, and the SCO provides a very good excuse to meet with senior officials and discuss issues ranging from military to trade," said Duncan Innes-Ker, China analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

But China and Russia have long been suspicious of each other, despite a recent rapprochement, and the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia are still trying to throw off Russia’s influence more than a decade after gaining independence.

This marks Hu’s first visit to Kyrgyzstan.