From the planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway to ongoing cultural exchanges, Central Asian countries are engaging in closer cooperation with China. In an interview with Beijing Review ahead of the China-Central Asia Summit taking place in the northwestern Chinese city of Xi’an on May 18-19, Farhod Arziev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to China, shed light on how these countries can work together to make the most of the region’s potential. Edited excerpts of the interview follow:
Beijing Review: How would you assess the importance of the China-Central Asia Summit?
Farhod Arziev: It is deeply symbolic that the First China-Central Asia Summit will be hosted in the historical and ancient city of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. It was from there the Great Silk Road, which is a vivid embodiment of the centuries-old ties between Uzbekistan and China, started.
Undoubtedly, the summit
