Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi completed a three-country tour of Central Asia from November 19 to 22, visiting Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as China deepens its political and economic engagement across a region of rising global importance. 

The trip began in Bishkek and concluded in Dushanbe, with each stop reinforcing Beijing's message of long-term strategic partnership.

In Kyrgyzstan, Wang Yi met President Sadyr Japarov and Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev. The visit drew significant media attention, partly because it was his first return in three years, but also because Kyrgyzstan currently presides over the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and is preparing to host its highest-level summit next year. 

Kyrgyzstan also shares over a 1,000 km border with China, and it aims to soon become one of the major transportation corridors for Chinese goods exports.

For Kyrgyz analysts, the visit signaled growing trust in the bilateral relationship. Sheradil Baktygulov, Director of Kyrgyzstan's Institute for World Politics, said to CGTN: "It means for us, for the Kyrgyzstan people, that we do understand that it's not just about discussions related to bilateral relations between two countries, like the Kyrgyz Republic and China. It's also mainly about how to build a trustful and solid baseline for future cooperation."

Infrastructure and economic connectivity dominated the agenda. Discussions included progress on the long-anticipated China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. 

As Azamat Kaibaliev, Press Secretary of the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry, stated: "Priority attention was given to economic cooperation, implementing joint projects in agriculture, energy, processing industries, and, naturally, transportation. In this context, the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway was discussed as a strategic regional project."

Wang Yi's next stop was Uzbekistan, where talks focused on strengthening trade, energy cooperation and regional transport corridors, including efforts to modernize cross-border logistics links connecting Central Asia to China's western provinces.

The final leg of the tour took place in Tajikistan, where Wang Yi met President Emomali Rahmon and Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin. 

Closed-door discussions were followed by the signing of several agreements aimed at expanding cooperation in transport, agriculture, digital economy and industrial development. 

Shohin Samadi, Head of the Information and Press Department at Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry, summarized the agenda: "The ministers focused their attention on further expansion and deepening of all-round mutually beneficial cooperation in all priority areas, in particular, trade, economic, investment, industrial, energy, transport, agricultural sector, digital economy and e-commerce."

Wang Yi's regional tour unfolded amid heightened international activity in Central Asia, with recent US and EU engagements underscoring the region's growing geopolitical weight. 

China's intensive diplomacy signals its determination to remain Central Asia's key strategic and development partner.