Full text: President Xi's joint written interview with media(5)

8. How do you see the current development and prospect of Kyrgyzstan's relations with China? What do you expect to achieve from your visit to Kyrgyzstan?

Kyrgyzstan celebrated the 22nd anniversary of independence just a few days ago. I wish to take this opportunity to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, warm congratulations to the people of Kyrgyzstan. I wish the friendly country of Kyrgyzstan prosperity and its people happiness.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, China-Kyrgyzstan relations have maintained fast and steady growth. Cooperation in various fields has yielded obvious results and bilateral relations have reached an unprecedented height with bright prospect. The two sides have resolved once and for all the boundary question left over from history in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in each other' s internal affairs, making the 1,100 km boundary a bond of friendship and cooperation between the two peoples. Practical cooperation in trade, energy, transport, telecommunications, agriculture and other areas has continued to expand. China is now Kyrgyzstan's second largest trading partner and its second biggest source of foreign investment. The two sides fully respect each other's development path chosen in light of national conditions, firmly support each other on major issues related to their respective core interests and have worked hand in hand in the aftermath of the international financial crisis and major natural disasters. As such, they are indeed each other's trustworthy neighbor and friend.

China highly values its relations with Kyrgyzstan and sees major opportunities to further grow this relationship. China is ready to work with Kyrgyzstan to deepen political mutual trust, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, boost strategic coordination and raise the bilateral relationship to a new level.

I am looking forward to my state visit to Kyrgyzstan. During the visit, I will have official talks with President Almazbek Atambayev to jointly map out and make important decisions concerning the future growth of bilateral relations.

I am convinced that with concerted efforts of the two sides, the visit will be a success and will inject fresh and robust dynamism to the growth of China-Kyrgyzstan relations.

9. Cooperation in security and economy represents the principal direction of SCO cooperation. In your view, how should the SCO better perform its security and economic functions?

In the past 12 years since the founding of the SCO, member states have forged a close community of common destinies and shared interests. In the face of complex regional and international situation, maintaining regional security and stability and promoting common development of member states has been, is and will continue to be SCO's top priority and objective for quite a long time to come.

On security, member states need to continue to firmly support each other's endeavor to safeguard national security and social stability and intensify efforts to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism and drug-related crimes. What merits caution is that there is a growing tendency of terrorists and drug criminals colluding with each other in the region. Therefore, counter-terrorism and anti-narcotic efforts should be integrated with a two-pronged approach. China believes that there is a need to give the SCO Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure the function of anti-narcotics to enhance its overall ability to fight both terrorism and drug trafficking.

On economy, member states need to vigorously promote pragmatic cooperation. The ultimate purpose of maintaining regional security and stability is to achieve common development and prosperity. Parties need to accelerate the implementation of cooperation projects in such advantageous areas as transport, energy, communications and agriculture, and expedite studies on setting up an SCO development bank to resolve project financing difficulties and address international financial risks. Moreover, the SCO needs to step up pragmatic cooperation with other multilateral mechanisms in the region to draw on each other's strengths.

China has all along supported SCO's development. For a long time, China has actively exchanged experience on law-enforcement and security cooperation with other member states, provided concessional loans for economic cooperation among member states, helped them train professionals for national development, and worked with them to respond to the international financial crisis in a spirit of solidarity. China will continue to join hands with other member states to create a brighter future for the SCO.