Spokesman on China's relations with Central Asia

China will continue to unite and cooperate with Central Asian countries and will enhance development strategy alignment with them, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.

Lin informed media of the 5th China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

"Wang Yi, Foreign Minister and also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, chaired the 5th China-Central Asia Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Chengdu on Sunday. The six foreign ministers had in-depth exchanges on carrying out the outcomes of the first China-Central Asia Summit and advancing China-Central Asia cooperation on all fronts, and made full political preparation for the second summit in 2025. The six foreign ministers signed and issued a joint declaration and attended the ceremony to launch the Tianfu cross-border freight truck service to Central Asia and the opening ceremony of China-Central Asia special commodity exhibition and sales center," said Lin.

The first China-Central Asia Summit was successfully held in China's Xi'an in May 2023.

"Since the first China-Central Asia Summit was held last year, a ministerial level meeting platform for trade, customs, agriculture, transportation, industry and investments has been set up smoothly, with major projects carried out one after another and cultural exchanges becoming more convenient. China is ready to continue to unite and cooperate with Central Asian countries, enhance development strategy alignment and jointly build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future," said Lin.

During the meeting, the six foreign ministers reached consensus in five key areas: agreeing to adhere to the guidance of their heads of state and to strengthen and enhance the China-Central Asia mechanism; agreeing to pursue the goal of modernization and to deepen all-round cooperation; reaffirming commitment to sharing weal and woe and to upholding regional peace and stability; emphasizing everlasting friendship through generations; pledging to uphold multilateralism.

Spokesman on China's relations with Central Asia

Macao's Chief Executive-elect Sam Hou Fai said that he appreciated the incumbent administration's strong support for a smooth transition of power and responsibilities to his term of government starting Dec 20.

Sam was elected on Oct. 13 as the sixth chief executive-designate of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), garnering 394 votes from the 400-member election committee, and appointed by the central government on Oct 25.

Sam, 62, is set to succeed incumbent Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng on Dec 20 for a five-year term.

He was born in Zhongshan of south China's Guangdong Province in May 1962 and moved to Macao in the 1980s. He joined Macao's first group of judicial auditors in 1995, was appointed president of Macao's Court of Final Appeal on Dec 20, 1999 and held the post for nearly 25 years until Aug 28 this year.

"My job has two parts. The first is to communicate with incumbent Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and his administrative team to ensure a smooth handover between the fifth-term and sixth-term governments. This part actually started on Nov 1 and is more intensive now. The second is to prepare my administrative team, that is to pick up main officials. The first part is going very smoothly. I am also very grateful to Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng and his administrative team for their close cooperation and strong support," he said.

The newly-elected chief executive said he has already been through a psychological transition. Being a judge, Sam said, it means to be low-profile and keep distance with the public; but becoming a chief executive, he has to be outgoing and socially active. However, being discreet is a prevailing principle for both the roles, he said.

"Be careful in what you say before some important policies are implemented. Only when we reach consensus after listening to broad opinions and having wide discussions can the chief executive make explanations to the public. So being careful in what you say still works. Otherwise, it is easy to mislead the public, cause controversies and even affect social stability," he said.

Macao's incoming chief executive thanks incumbent government for smooth transition