The Ministry of Commerce of China File photo: VCG

Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China and Kyrgyzstan have maintained a steadily advancing economic and trade partnership in recent years, with bilateral cooperation delivering positive results across trade, investment and infrastructure, Huang Ling, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said at a regular press conference on Thursday.

According to Huang, China has long remained Kyrgyzstan's largest trading partner. Bilateral trade reached $11.7 billion in the first seven months of this year, with fast growth in Chinese exports of "new trio" products — namely electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products — as well as mechanical and electrical goods. Cooperation in services trade and cross-border e-commerce has also been expanding.

On investment and economic-technical cooperation, Huang said China has become Kyrgyzstan's largest source of foreign investment. By the end of July, Chinese direct investment in Kyrgyzstan across all sectors had exceeded $2 billion. Major projects in infrastructure, energy, mining, agriculture and green development are progressing smoothly, she added.

Huang also said talks on a China-Kyrgyzstan agreement on services trade and investment have made important progress. The two sides are also actively discussing and promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation within the framework of China-Central Asia cooperation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, she said.

"China and Kyrgyzstan have always upheld mutual benefit and win-win cooperation," said the MOFCOM spokesperson.

Huang elaborated that Chinese-built oil refinery project in Kyrgyzstan has made an important contribution to ensuring energy supply in Kyrgyzstan. Projects such as photovoltaic power stations, waste-to-energy plants, and sewage treatment plants have strongly promoted green industrial transformation in the country.

So far, China has built or upgraded more than 10 road projects in Kyrgyzstan, significantly improving local transport infrastructure, travel convenience and cargo transportation.

Huang said that various sectors in Kyrgyzstan have spoken highly of the benefits of China-Kyrgyzstan cooperation, particularly its contribution to improving livelihoods, creating jobs and increasing tax revenues.

Looking ahead, MOFCOM said that China is willing to work with the Kyrgyz side to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and continuously promote the high-quality development of China-Kyrgyzstan economic and trade cooperation.


Global Times