BISHKEK — Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Dec 29 with visiting State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and both sides pledged to strengthen pragmatic cooperation in various fields.

During the meeting, Yang, who is also President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, first conveyed an oral message from Xi to Atambayev.

In the message, the Chinese president said China and Kyrgyzstan are strategic partners, good neighbors and good friends, adding that China attaches great importance to its relations with the Central Asian nation.

Xi also said he personally highly values the sound working relationship and personal friendship already established between the two sides, voicing his sincere wish that Kyrgyzstan would continue stability and development under the leadership of Atambayev.

During the talks, Yang said close contacts between leaders of China and Kyrgyzstan will play an important role in leading the development of relations between the two countries.

“The purpose of my visit is to implement the important consensus reached by the two countries’ heads of state, and to push for more fruitful results in bilateral cooperation,” he said.

China will continue to provide help for Kyrgyzstan’s economic and social development, advance bilateral cooperation in various fields, jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt, and crack down on the “three forces” of separatism, extremism and terrorism, said the special envoy.

For his part, Atambayev expressed his gratitude to Xi and the Chinese government for the longtime support and assistance to Kyrgyzstan’s development.

Kyrgyzstan and China are friendly neighbors and reliable partners, with remarkable achievements made in bilateral cooperation areas such as trade, economy, energy, agriculture and transportation, he said.

Kyrgyzstan is willing to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China, actively participate in the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt, and deepen bilateral law-enforcement and security cooperation, so as to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability, according to Atambayev.