Some 2,100 years ago, Zhang Qian, a diplomat of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), set off from Chang’ an, now known as Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China, to visit regions including parts of Central Asia as a royal envoy. His missions of peace and friendship opened the original Silk Road with Xi’an as the starting point, which later expanded into a network of East-West trade routes linking Europe with Asia.
The connection between Xi’an and Central Asia is growing even closer. It was in Xi’an that the China-Central Asia Summit took place on May 18-19. The event drew together Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, marking the first in-person summit held by leaders of the six countries since establishing diplomatic ties more than three decades ago.
China and Central Asian countries have joined hands over the past decade to usher in a new era
