In his letter, Yang said since the establishment of diplomatic ties 16 years ago, China and Central Asian countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and established high-level political trust. Both sides have conducted mutually beneficial cooperation on economy, trade, energy resources, transportation and humanities and kept sound coordination in such organizations as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, said Yang, describing both sides as good neighbors, good friends and good partners.

The founding of China Central Asia Friendship Association (CCAFA) marks that the people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries have entered a new stage for development. Yang hoped that the CCAFA would play the role of a non-governmental organization as a bridge and link in deepening understanding and traditional friendship between China and the five Central Asian nations and promoting good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation between both sides.

Ismail Amat, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress, as the honorary president of CCAFA, President of Chinese People’s Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries Chen Haosu and President of CCAFA Zhang Deguang attended the founding conference and delivered speeches respectively.

Ambassadors from the five Central Asian nations including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to China and the secretary general of the SCO attended a reception marking the founding of the CCAFA held by CPAFFC.