Before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders of a Central Asian security group on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping took a detour through Kazakhstan. This was his first trip outside of China since the pandemic began.
As the ruling Communist Party works to achieve its strategic goals, it is in conflict with Washington, Japan, and India. Xi’s tour shows how important relations with Russia and Central Asia are to Beijing.
On the airport runway, Xi was met by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and an honour guard. The president was wearing a blue suit and a face mask.
According to Tokayev’s government, the two leaders would talk about the energy markets and the crisis in the world economy. Kazakhstan, a country with only 19.4 million people and a lot of grasslands, makes a lot of oil and gas. China is a very important customer.
Xi is planning to fly to Samarkand, which is in neighbouring Uzbekistan, on Thursday so he can go to the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China and Russia co-chair this group of eight countries, and the summit will be held there.
Beijing and Moscow see the SCO as a way to balance out the way the United States works in East Asia.
India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan are other SCO nations. Afghanistan and Iran are also watching.
Washington, Japan, Australia, and India set up the Quad in April as a response to Beijing’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy, and the Chinese leader is now promoting it. Even though Xi hasn’t given many details, U.S. officials say they are in line with Russia’s reasons for attacking Ukraine.
Yuri Ushakov, who is Putin’s advisor on foreign policy, said that Xi and Putin plan to meet privately to talk about Ukraine.
