Editor's Note

Chinese President Xi Jinping pays state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan from September 3 to 13. Xi will attend the eighth Leaders' Summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) in St Petersburg, Russia on September 5 and 6, and he will also attend the 13th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of SCO in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, on September 13.

Latest News

China-Turkmenistan relations upgraded to strategic partnership	Chinese President Xi starts state visit to Turkmenistan
Putin softens tone over Syria strike  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday indicated that Russia will not rule out backing US-led military action in Syria if solid proof is given that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, but he also warned that the use of force without UN approval would be an "aggression." Chinese president discusses ties, global issues with Russian counterpart Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin before the Group of 20 (G20) summit. China, Brazil vow to boost BRICS cooperation Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff pledged here on Thursday to boost solidarity and cooperation between BRICS countries. Chinese president arrives in St. Petersburg for G20 summit Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in St. Petersburg Wednesday for the eighth summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Full text: President Xi's joint written interview with media from Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan Chinese President Xi Jinping accepted joint written interview with media from Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan on bilateral relations, the G20 affairs, the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and China's economic situation, before his Central Asia tour.

Spotlight

More Videos: Xi to visit Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghyztan President Xi to attend G20 Summit & SCO meeting G20 Summit the highlight of the tour

Source: CNTV.com

Route Map

Source: Xinhua-Globaltimes.cn

Bilateral Ties

China, Turkmenistan ties
	Backgrounder: Basic facts about Turkmenistan News: China, Turkmenistan lift bilateral ties to strategic partnership Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Turkmenian counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, signed a joint declaration here Tuesday to lift bilateral ties to a strategic partnership. Chinese president meets Turkmenian counterpart on ties Chinese President Xi Jinping met Tuesday in Ashkhabad with his Turkmenian counterpart Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov on furthering ties and cooperation between China and the Central Asian country. Chinese president arrives in Ashkhabad, starts maiden trip to Central Asia Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Tuesday for a state visit to Turkmenistan, first stop of his maiden trip to Central Asia since he took office in March.
China, Kazakhstan ties
	Backgrounder: Basic facts about Republic of Kazakhstan News: China, Kazakhstan vow to enhance strategic partnership China and Kazakhstan on Monday expressed the desire to further enhance pragmatic cooperation and build a stronger strategic partnership. Chinese senior military official meets Kazakh PM on ties China is ready to work with Kazakhstan to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and push forward their military relations, a senior Chinese military official said Thursday. Chinese FM meets Tajikistan's FM, Kazakhstan's deputy FM Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has continued to hold separate talks with his regional counterparts on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kyrgyzstan.
China, Uzbekistan ties
	Backgrounder: Basic facts about Uzbekistan News: China vows to deepen friendship with Central Asian countries The new Chinese government will continue its good-neighborly relations with Central Asian countries and further deepen strategic mutual trust and cooperation with them, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday. Uzbekistan, China vow to strengthen strategic partnership Uzbekistan and China vowed on Tuesday to further enhance their strategic partnership and deepen pragmatic bilateral cooperation. China, Uzbekistan reaffirm further cooperation China and Uzbekistan reaffirmed Wednesday they would further advance and expand their cooperation.
China, Kyrgyzstan ties
	Backgrounder: Basic facts about Kyrgyzstan News: China, Kyrgyzstan conduct anti-terror exercises China and Kyrgyzstan held a joint anti-terror drill on Sunday, under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The exercises took place along the border between the two nations. China vows to deepen friendship with Central Asian countries The new Chinese government will continue its good-neighborly relations with Central Asian countries and further deepen strategic mutual trust and cooperation with them, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday. Kyrgyz president meets Chinese defense minister on military exchanges Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev discussed bilateral military ties and regional affairs with Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan Thursday, vowing to strengthen cooperation.

13th SCO Summit

Backgrounder: Shanghai Cooperation Organization summits Brief introduction to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Council of SCO foreign ministers to meet in Kyrgyzstan The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will meet in Kyrgyzstan later this month, the Kyrgyzstan Foreign Ministry says. Chinese FM urges joint efforts to build SCO into community of interest Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to build the regional body into an all-round community of interest. SCO defense chiefs vows to maintain regional peace, combat terrorism Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense chiefs pledged Wednesday to enhance coordination in maintaining regional peace and fighting terrorism and organized crime. SCO anti-terror cooperation makes progress: new director A regional anti-terror agency has made great progress in helping Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states combat the "three evil forces", according to its new chief.

Eighth G20 Summit

Highlights:

Backgrounder: Main achievements of G20 summit meetings
Economic growth
Platform to discuss global financial, economic issues	G20 summit focuses on economic growth and jobs
China, Brazil vow to boost BRICS cooperation Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff pledged here on Thursday to boost solidarity and cooperation between BRICS countries. China and Brazil, both emerging economies and members of the BRICS group, should strengthen communication and coordination to oppose trade protectionism, safeguard the common interests of the emerging markets and continue to contribute to global growth, Xi said when meeting with Rousseff ahead of the Group of 20 summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. G20 leaders urged to focus on development At Thursday's G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, much of the focus is almost certain to be on Syria. Analysts are urging that developmental issues, especially in Africa, should also take centre stage. Global economy, job creation top agenda of G20 summit The global economic challenges will test the determination and unity of the G20 members. In July, the IMF cut its global economic growth expectation for this year to 3.1 percent, down from a previous estimate of 3.3 percent. But there are some encouraging signs, with economies actively pushing for structural and often difficult changes. Analysts say it’s not realistic to expect the Summit to solve everything in just two days. Business 20 opinion group plays bigger roles in G20 summitry B20 carries certain weight in the B20-G20 dialogue in that the group gathers global business leaders who have been exerting influence upon shaping the 2013 G20 Summit agenda. Sustainable growth main task for G20 members: Russian sherpa Maintaining strong and sustainable growth is a main task for the Group of Twenty (G20) economies, Russia's G20 summit coordinator, or "sherpa," Ksenia Yudaeva has said.
Syria crisis
	Political issues loom over G20 summit These are hardly the images the Russian President wanted everyone discussing at the G20. Yet the escalating civil war in Syria, and talks of a looming US-led strike, are now sure to steal some of the spotlight away from what's billed a summit on economics. Canada says G20 summit should focus on economy despite Syria Economy should be the priority at the upcoming G20 summit although the Syria crisis would be a hot topic, the chief spokesman of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday.

Bilateral meetings:

China, US
Obama to hold bilateral meetings with Xi Jinping and Francois Hollande US President Barack Obama will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Francois Hollande at the G20 summit, in Russia's St. Petersburg.
China, Russia
Chinese president discusses ties, global issues with Russian counterpart Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Thursday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin before the Group of 20 (G20) summit. Chinese, Russian presidents to meet at G20 Leaders' Summit Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Leaders' Summit of the Group of Twenty to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in early September and will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the summit. China-Russia economic cooperation promising as ties mature China and Russia need to translate the strength of their high-level political relationship into tangible results to promote common development and prosperity, said the Chinese ambassador.
China, Japan
Tokyo's lack of sincerity means no China-Japan summit at G20 On the eve of the G20 summit, a senior Japanese diplomat said that Tokyo is working for a chat between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping, although a formal meeting is out of the question. However, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong had made it clear last week that there is no basis now for a leaders' meeting, casting doubt on the likelihood of any form of bilateral talks in the near term. China-Japan bilateral meeting unlikely at G20 summit Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said on Tuesday that it is unlikely for Chinese and Japanese leaders to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the forthcoming G20 summit due to Japan's provocative words and moves.

Comments:

Xinhua News Agency:
Worries about Chinese economy will further fade at G20 summit
As the leaders of major developed and developing economies converge in the Russian city of St. Petersburg for the yearly Group of 20 (G20) summit on Thursday and Friday, the world will have a better chance to understand the Chinese economic situation.

Tokyo's lack of sincerity means no China-Japan summit at G20
It has to be pointed out that China has always insisted on dialogue to resolve disputes between countries. If Japan is really sincere in its call for dialogue, it should take real actions to create a right atmosphere, instead of playing to the gallery.

Derailment of G20 summit violates int'l community's hope
It is well established the G20 summit is a vital forum for leaders to seek more measures to boost the world economy, at a time when global economic growth lacks momentum and the deep-seated impact of the international financial crisis goes on unabated.

Therefore, it would be a pity if the United States tries to derail the summit to suit its own interests, when the international community is looking forward to a successful and effective economic response from major economies.

Where does G20 go from St. Petersburg summit?
The core of this efficacy problem is that the members within the group weigh their respective individual interests above the so-called common interests or shared interests of their own group.

Chinanews.com:
Jin Canrong, deputy head of the International Studies College at Renmin University of China, commented that as the global economy is still struggling to regain its confidence, China will play a significant role as one of the two engines to drive its recovery, Chinanews.com reported on September 5.

“Chinese President Xi Jinping could take this opportunity to let the world see the importance of the Chinese economy, which would be beneficial to global stability,” said Jin, adding that intentionally slowing down China’s economy would bring about long-term stable growth. 

Haiwainet.cn：
Mei Xinyu, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, believes that this G20 will be different compared to past summits, which spotlighted newly-emerging marketing economies as the US, Europe and Japan remained stagnant in financial crisis.

“This year, emerging marketing economies are at a point of shock and polarization – something that will determine the amount of leverage they’ll have with developed nations,” Mei told haiwainet.cn on September 5.

Organizations' reactions:

	UN chief stresses need for cooperation to tackle global issues UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Wednesday highlighted the importance of cooperation in addressing the challenges facing the world, as leaders from major economies are to attend a G20 summit in Russia.
	EU urges G20 leaders to step up efforts to restore global confidence The European Union (EU) Wednesday called on G20 leaders to step up efforts for a sustainable economic recovery and to fight against tax avoidance and evasion worldwide.
	ILO chief urges G20 nations to take decisive action to create jobs Leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) nations should take decisive action to create more and better jobs, the International Labor Organization's (ILO) chief said Wednesday.

Related news:

Chinese, Argentine presidents vow to tap cooperation potential
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez held talks here Thursday, pledging to explore potential for bilateral trade and investment.

Civil society forum held in parallel with St. Petersburg G20 summit
Russia, the G20's rotating chair, introduced a parallel Civil Society 20 (C20) "summit" in its tune-up for the St. Petersburg G20 summit which will open later Thursday.

French President Hollande to attend G20 Summit in St Petersburg
French President Francois Hollande will attend the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sept. 5 and 6, 2013, the Elysee Palace said Wednesday in a statement.

Chinese, Mexican presidents meet for third time this year
Chinese President Xi Jinping met on Wednesday in St. Petersburg with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit to be held on Sept. 5-6.

News Vocab

领导人  lǐngdǎorén 

“领导” v. lead; exercise leadership（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）
“人” n. human; human being; person; people（Source: 《新世纪汉英大词典》）
“领导人” n. leader; head (refers to highest political leadership)

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