Chinese President Xi Jinping Friday unveiled a grand plan for Central Asia's development, from building infrastructure to boosting trade, taking on a new leadership role in a region that has traditionally been a Russian sphere of influence.
China is ready to coordinate development strategies with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and promote the modernization of all, Xi said in an address to a China-Central Asia Summit in northwest China.
"This summit has added new impetus to the development and revitalization of the six counties, and injected strong positive energy into regional peace and stability," Xi said later at a press conference with his Central Asian counterparts.
"We will jointly foster a new paradigm of deeply complementary and high-level win-win cooperation."
With its engagement, China has put itself at the forefront of the race for political influence and energy assets in the resource-rich region, with Russia distracted by its war in Ukraine and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan diminishing the U.S. presence in the region.
The five former Soviet republics, with a network of trade corridors, offer China alternative routes to transport fuel, food and other commodities in the event of disruptions elsewhere.
The pledges of support and cooperation at the two-day summit will present a contrast to a "negative" image of China invoked at a summit of Group of Seven leaders in Japan from Friday.
China's support for Central Asia also appears to be a counter-weight to U.S. accusations of its coercive diplomacy.
Xi said China and the Central Asian countries should deepen trust and offer "clear and strong support" on core interests such as sovereignty, independence, national dignity and long-term development.
He did not mention Ukraine, which like the Central Asian nations, was part of the Soviet Union.
"China is ready to help Central Asian countries improve their law enforcement, security, and defense capability construction," he said.
Trade and investment
China is making economic inroads into Central Asia, including with its Belt and Road Initiative to build railways and other trade-related infrastructure.
China would also upgrade bilateral investment agreements and increase cross-border freight volume with the region, Xi said.
It will encourage Chinese-funded businesses in Central Asia to create more jobs, build warehouses, and launch a special train service aimed at promoting tourism, he added.
"To bolster our cooperation and Central Asian development, China will provide Central Asian countries with a total of 26 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) of financing support and grants," Xi said.
Two-way trade between China and Central Asia hit a record $70 billion last year, with Kazakhstan leading with $31 billion, as China seeks deeper links in its quest for greater food and energy security.
Xi proposed the establishment of a China-Central Asia partnership to develop oil and gas sources. He said Beijing wants to speed up the construction of an additional pipeline to supply Central Asian gas to China's energy-hungry economy and to promote nuclear power.
Xi promised Chinese help to Central Asian governments to strengthen security and defense and to fight terrorism. He promised to "jointly promote peace" in Afghanistan.
Beijing earlier announced plans for a regional anti-terrorism center to train Central Asian security forces.
Xi’s government sees political Islam as a threat and is accused of detaining some 1 million Muslim Turkic people in Xinjiang in what Beijing says is a campaign to stop extremism.
"We should remain zero-tolerant to the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism," Xi said.