Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 27 September, in the city of Xi’an, the administrative center of Shaanxi Province (Northwest China), the Friendship Forum of the Peoples of China and the States of Central Asia, jointly organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the people’s government of the province, started Shaanxi. 

Cao Jianming, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the forum. Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Edil Baisalov, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Tajikistan Dilrabo Mansuri and other foreign politicians spoke via video link. Liu Guozhong, Secretary of the Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCP) of Shaanxi Province, also attended the forum and spoke.

As Cao Jianming noted, the proposal to hold the Friendship Forum of the Peoples of China and the Central Asian States, which was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in January this year at a video summit dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five countries of Central Asia, is aimed at the long-term development of friendly relations between China and the states of Central Asia.

According to him, the 30-year practice of friendly cooperation between China and the countries of Central Asia shows that the connection between peoples is the basis for the development of interstate relations. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, we must join forces and strengthen the friendship of peoples with common interests, strengthen the social basis for the development of friendship, and build a closer community of common destiny between China and Central Asia.

Within the framework of the forum, the opening ceremonies of the China-Kazakhstan Center for Traditional Medicine, the China-Central Asia Center for Agricultural Cooperation and the China-Central Asia Comprehensive Demonstration Park of Agricultural Science and Technology were held.