Chinese President Xi Jinping disembarks from the airplane upon his arrival in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 12, 2019. Xi arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Xi was received by his Kyrgyz counterpart, Sooronbay Jeenbekov, at the airport. The two presidents had a cordial talk.

Xi thanked Jeenbekov for meeting him in person at the airport and conveyed to the Kyrgyz people cordial greetings and best wishes from the Chinese people.

Xi pointed out that China and Kyrgyzstan are connected by mountains and rivers and the two peoples have been living side by side from generation to generation.

He added that the ancient Silk Road linked the two countries together.

With continuous deepening of their comprehensive strategic partnership and fruitful results in their Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said, China and Kyrgyzstan have become truly good neighbors, good friends and good partners.

Xi said he will have an in-depth exchange of views with Jeenbekov on deepening the China-Kyrgyzstan comprehensive strategic partnership, jointly building the Belt and Road, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas, and other international and regional issues of common concern, so as to chart the future course for bilateral relations.

The Chinese president said he is convinced that the visit will consolidate the traditional friendship between China and Kyrgyzstan and lift the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

Jeenbekov warmly welcomed the Chinese leader, saying that he has long been looking forward to Xi's visit. He added that his country appreciates China's strong support for his country's hosting of the SCO summit.

Noting that Kyrgyzstan sits next to China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jeenbekov said his country deeply admires the rapid development in Xinjiang and China at large, as well as the accomplishments achieved by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government under Xi's leadership.

Kyrgyzstan is the first stop of Xi's two-country Central Asia trip, which will also take him to Tajikistan for a state visit and the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.