Next China-Central Asia Summit to take place in Kazakhstan in 2025

BEIJING/ASTANA, China/Khazakhstan - The next China-Central Asia Summit will take place in Kazakhstan in 2025, reported Sputnik, quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

"We will use this summit to officially create a mechanism of meetings of the Chinese and Central Asian countries' leaders, which will be hosted every two years successively by China and the countries of the region. The next summit will be held in Kazakhstan in 2025," Xi said in a statement televised by the Chinese Central Television.

In turn, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev supported establishing a Central Asia-China secretariat, deeming it logical that it will begin its work in China.

"We also look forward to hosting the second Central Asia-China summit in Kazakhstan," Tokayev was quoted by his press office.

Moreover, Tokayev called for strengthening all-weather relations and diverse cooperation between the summit's member states.

From May 18-19, Xi is chairing the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Tokayev along with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev were invited to attend what became the first in-person six-way top-level summit since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and the five Central Asian countries in 1991. - BERNAMA-SPUTNIK