Xi Jinping Arrives in Kazakhstan... First Overseas Diplomacy in 32 Months Since COVID-19

Chinese President Xi Jinping Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Kazakhstan in Central Asia on the 14th, resuming overseas summit diplomacy that had been suspended for over two and a half years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua, President Xi arrived in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan and the first stop of his two-country Central Asia tour, in the afternoon (local time) and began his state visit schedule.

On the same day, President Xi held a summit meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss cooperation plans under the Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路: the overland and maritime Silk Road connecting China, Central Asia, and Europe) and collaboration in the energy sector.

This visit to Kazakhstan marks President Xi's first foreign trip in about 32 months since his visit to Myanmar in January 2020.

President Xi will then attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the 15th and 16th. He will also hold a bilateral summit with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The SCO, launched in 2001 under the leadership of China and Russia, is a political, economic, and security consultative organization with eight member countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan. With Iran having virtually completed its formal accession process, the SCO is expected to discuss expansion issues at this summit.

President Xi is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 15th.

The two leaders will meet face-to-face for the first time since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. Against the backdrop of the prolonged Ukraine conflict, intensified US-China tensions over Taiwan, and increased US military and economic containment of China, they are expected to reaffirm their strategic cooperation centered on anti-Americanism.

This face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and Russian leaders comes about seven months after their talks in Beijing on the opening day of the Beijing Winter Olympics in early February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.