Leaders meet in China for an historic Central Asia summit. 

The leaders of five Central Asian countries gathered in China’s historic city of Xi’an on Thursday for a two-day summit and one-on-one meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road initiative proposed by President Xi during his visit to Kazakhstan in 2013. Over the past decade, Central Asian countries have become beneficiaries of the infrastructure and trade program. Strengthening infrastructure, trade ties and regional security are among topics on the summit’s agenda. 

Joining the discussion:

• John Gong is Vice President of the University of International Business and Economics. 
• Sourabh Gupta is a Resident Senior Fellow and Senior Asia-Pacific Policy Specialist at Institute for China-America Studies.
• Yersultan Zhanseitov is a Chief Expert in the China and Asian Studies Program at the Institute of World Economics and Politics.

Central Asian heads of state converged in China's historic city of Xian for one-on-ones with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to seal pledges of ‘enduring’ friendship, paving the way for a summit expected to result in a regional pact with Beijing https://t.co/FjAdz4TsOA

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 18, 2023

A Pakistani expert believes that China will embrace the China-Central Asia Summit as an opportunity and work with the five Central Asian countries to push for cooperation in various fields. #GLOBALink pic.twitter.com/hYvV8rKcnV

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) May 18, 2023