Chinese president arrives in Kyrgyzstan for state visit, SCO summit

BISHKEK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

This is Xi's second state visit to the Central Asian country since he took office as the Chinese president in March 2013.

Ahead of this trip, Xi said in a signed articled published on Kyrgyz media that he looks forward to working with his Kyrgyz counterpart Sooronbay Jeenbekov to draw up an ambitious blue print for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and bring bilateral ties and all-round cooperation to a new height.

The Chinese president also applauded efforts made by Kyrgyzstan for the development of the SCO as its rotating presidency.

"I am convinced that, with the collective efforts of all sides, the Bishkek Summit will produce fruitful results, bring about greater development of the SCO, and deliver even more benefits to the people across the region," he added in the article.

Kyrgyzstan is the first stop of Xi's two-country Central Asia trip. After this he will fly to Tajikistan for a state visit and to attend the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.