Chinese President Xi Jinping has opened a summit in the ancient city of Xi’an, where he hopes to deepen relations with Central Asia. The meeting is of “milestone significance”, according to Beijing, which wants to celebrate the first formal relations between China and the region, established 31 years ago. Trade between China and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reached $70bn in 2022, while expanding 22% year-on-year in Q1 2023. Analysts believe the summit will see efforts to reach agreements on expanding links in the area, including the $6bn China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the Central Asia-to-China gas pipeline.
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