China's Premier Li Qiang arrives in Kyrgyzstan for regional summit

By Necva Tastan​​​​​​​

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s Prime Minister Li Qiang arrived Tuesday in Kyrgyzstan for the first time to participate in the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States.

Li is on a four-day trip to Kyrgyzstan at the invitation of Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov.

Beijing-based CGTN reported that Li will have an "in-depth exchange of views on the SCO Development Strategy and formulate concrete measures on cooperation in such areas as security, economy and trade, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.”

Li, along with other leaders, will implement agreements made during the summit in July, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said last week.

Founded by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the SCO, has grown from a regional group of six members into a global organization with nine, three observer nations and 14 dialogue partners, encompassing more than 60% of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.

The 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government Summit of SCO will be held Wednesday.