Xi to attend SCO summit, visit Kyrgyzstan and Egypt

President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and pay state visits to Kyrgyzstan and Egypt from Sunday to Sept 3.

During the summit, Xi will have in-depth exchanges of views with participating leaders on deepening SCO cooperation in various fields under the new circumstances and major international and regional issues of the times, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Wednesday.

The leaders will provide guidance for the SCO's high-quality development and participation in the reform and development of the global governance system, Lin told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the SCO, which was founded in Shanghai in June 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The organization has since expanded to 10 member states, with a combined population of more than 3.4 billion, and accounts for about one-fourth of global gross domestic product.

Lin said that over the past 25 years, SCO members have upheld the Shanghai Spirit, which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and the pursuit of common development.

By expanding cooperation, the SCO has developed into a comprehensive regional organization with the world's widest geographical coverage, largest population and enormous development potential, he said.

The group has explored a new model of regional cooperation and set an example for a new type of international relations, Lin added.

The SCO summit held in Tianjin last year adopted a development strategy for 2026-35, setting out the organization's priorities for the coming decade and opening a new stage of high-quality development.

"If the Tianjin summit drew up the blueprint, the core task of the Bishkek summit is to put it into action," said Su Chang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies.

Su said Xi's attendance is expected to help translate consensus into action by putting the four SCO centers inaugurated at the Tianjin summit into operation, advancing projects in energy, green industries and the digital economy, and improving coordination among its expanded membership while strengthening its role in global governance.

"China stands ready to work with various parties to build consensus and write a new chapter of cooperation in Bishkek, and contribute to the security, stability, development and revitalization of regional countries and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity," Lin said.

In Kyrgyzstan, Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov on bilateral relations, cooperation in priority areas and international and regional developments, and will attend various state events, according to the spokesman.

"China looks forward to working with Kyrgyzstan to take this visit as an opportunity to promote high-quality development of mutually beneficial cooperation on all fronts, add new dimensions to the China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future, and bring more benefits to the two peoples," Lin said.

China and Kyrgyzstan established diplomatic relations in 1992. Bilateral relations have developed rapidly in recent years, supported by stronger political trust, Belt and Road cooperation, expanding people-to-people exchanges and closer international coordination, the spokesman said.

Noting that Xi and Japarov met three times in 2025, Lin said the two heads of state had guided China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation into a "golden period" of development.

Su, the researcher, said that "head-of-state diplomacy is the most important link in turning political consensus into projects on the ground". She said Xi's visit and the summit could give fresh impetus to the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and other major projects, helping to translate political trust into tangible results.

Closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Kyrgyzstan, as well as between China and other Central Asian countries, would provide important support for political and economic cooperation, Su added.

Xi's visit to Egypt will be his first state visit to the country in 10 years and will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt.

Egypt became the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China on May 30, 1956. The two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014.

During the visit, Xi will hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of mutual interest, Lin said.

"Through the visit, China looks forward to working with Egypt to carry forward traditional friendship, render each other firm support, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and bolster each other's modernization," Lin said.

The visit is also expected to open a new chapter in China-Egypt relations and make positive contributions to peace and stability in the region and beyond, he added.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn