1st LD: Chinese premier arrives in Kyrgyzstan for official visit, SCO meeting

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Wednesday for an official visit to Kyrgyzstan and the 15th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Li is expected to hold talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, and meet Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev to exchange views on bilateral ties and cooperation in economic, security, cultural and other areas.

The talks, said Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday, will also cover the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and aspires to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient routes.

The two countries will issue a joint communique and sign a string of deals in such areas as economy and trade, production capacity, transportation, agriculture and intellectual property protection.

At the SCO meeting, the Chinese premier will propose concrete initiatives to further deepen SCO cooperation in areas like finance, trade, science and innovation, added Li, the assistant minister.

The SCO members are expected to announce 38 measures designed to boost cooperation in areas such as transport, science and technology, infrastructure construction and environmental protection.

Established in 2001, the SCO is a regional political, economic and security organization that groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as full members.

India and Pakistan signed the SCO's Memorandum of Obligations in June, kick-starting the process of their accession into the group, which also has a number of observers and dialogue partners.

Kyrgyzstan is the first leg of Li's ongoing eight-day four-country tour, which will also take him to Kazakhstan, Latvia and Russia. Endi