TheupcomingChina-CentralAsiaSummit,tobechairedbyPresidentXiJinping,willfurtherelevatetiesbetweenChinaandthefiveCentralAsiancountries,bringeconomicandtradecooperationtoahigherlevelanddelivermoretangiblebenefitstothepeople,officialsandanalystssaid.

XiwillchairthesummitonMay18and19inXi"an,Shaanxiprovince,ForeignMinistryspokeswomanHuaChunyingannouncedonMonday.

ThesummitwillbringtogetherPresidentKassym-JomartTokayevofKazakhstan,PresidentSadyrJaparovofKyrgyzstan,PresidentEmomaliRahmonofTajikistan,PresidentSerdarBerdimuhamedovofTurkmenistan,andPresidentShavkatMirziyoyevofUzbekistan,shesaid.

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Thegathering,oneofthemajordiplomaticeventstobehostedbyChinathisyear,willbeasignificantmilestoneinthehistoryoftiesbetweenthetwosides,WangWenbin,aForeignMinistryspokesman,saidatanewsbriefingonMonday.

Xiwilldeliveranimportantspeechatthesummit,andthesixheadsofstatewillexchangeviewsonthedevelopmentoftheChina-CentralAsiamechanism,cooperationinvarioussectorsandmajorinternationalandregionalissuesofcommonconcern,hesaid.

Keypoliticaldocumentswillalsobesignedduringthesummit,hesaid."Itisourbeliefthatunderthejointeffortsfromvarioussides,thesummitwilldrawupanewblueprintforChina-CentralAsiarelationsandusherinaneweraforcooperation."

TotaltradevolumebetweenChinaandthefiveCentralAsiancountriesreachedarecord$70billionlastyear,accordingtotheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission.

LiYongquan,headoftheChinaSocietyforRussian,EasternEuropeanandCentralAsianStudies,saidChinahasalwaysrespectedthefiveCentralAsiancountries"sovereignty,independenceandtheirrighttochoosedevelopmentpathssuitedtotheirownnationalconditions.

"ChinahasalwaysseenCentralAsiaasapriorityinitsneighborhooddiplomacy,whilethestabilityanddevelopmentoftheregionisdirectlyrelatedtoChina"sowndevelopment,"Lisaid.

Lastyear,XichairedavirtualsummitinBeijingtocommemoratethe30thanniversaryoftheestablishmentofdiplomaticrelationsbetweenChinaandtheCentralAsiancountries,duringwhichheannouncedaplantoprovidegrantassistanceof$500milliontothecountriestosupportlivelihoodprograms.

XialsomadeKazakhstanthedestinationofhisfirstforeigntripsincetheoutbreakoftheCOVID-19pandemic,payingastatevisittothenationinSeptember.

Goingforward,thebuildingofanevenclosercommunitywithasharedfuturebetweenChinaandCentralAsiawillgivefreshimpetustobilateraltiesandcontributetotheregion"ssecurity,stabilityanddevelopment,saidLifromtheChinaSocietyforRussian,EasternEuropeanandCentralAsianStudies.

ZhaoHuirong,aresearchfellowattheChineseAcademyofSocialSciences"InstituteofRussian,EasternEuropeanandCentralAsianStudies,saidthattheelevationofthemultilateralmechanismbetweenChinaandthefivecountriesindicatedanewlevelofemphasisplacedontherelationship.

"Asummitbetweenheadsofstatewillhelpbuildastrongpillarforthebuildingofacommunitywithasharedfuturebetweenthetwosidesandleadthewayforthefuturegrowthofties,"shesaid.

CentralAsiaistheplacewhereXiproposedtheSilkRoadEconomicBelt,theforerunneroftheBeltandRoadInitiative.TheregionhasalsoplayedpivotalrolesintheBRIgoingglobal,Zhaoadded.

"ThefivenationsareactiveparticipantsandbeneficiariesfromtheBRI,andwehavereasonstobelievethatthesummitwillhelpscaleuppragmaticcooperationandenabletheregiontocontinueleadingthewayforBRIcooperation,"shesaid.

Chinaandthefivecountriesagreedduringaforeignministers"meetinglastyeartoestablishtheChina-CentralAsiaSummitmechanism,withthesixcountriestoholdbiennialsummitsstartingthisyear.