Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay paid a working visit to Beijing and Shanghai (People's Republic of China), where he held several meetings and discussions from 10 to 14 April 2023.
Thus, the CICA Secretary General met with a Member of the CPC Committee of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (full minister rank) Ma Zhaoxu on 10 April at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. The two sides had a lively exchange of views on the promotion of multilateralism in current global affairs and the role that CICA plays in these processes. The high-ranking representative of China expressed the full support of the country’s leadership for CICA and its transformation process.
On the same day, Kairat Sarybay had a meeting with Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Ambassador Li Hui, which discussed specific areas of CICA and the Secretariat’s activities to assist in achieving the priorities that the Member States set for the Organization. Special emphasis was given to the CICA transformation process and the implementation of the objectives and actions outlined to meet this goal.
The implementation of the Chinese initiative to hold the CICA Finance Summits and Kazakhstan's idea to transform them into a permanent platform were discussed with Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the China Association for the Promotion of Development Financing (CAPDF) Ms. Guo Mingshe. Kairat Sarybay thanked the CAPDF and its Chairman Chen Yuan for the efforts made to ensure the success of the three CICA Finance Summits held in China in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The sides also focused on the prospects for creating an enabling environment for enhancing financial cooperation among CICA Member States on the basis of a new permanent platform.
The CICA Secretary General's visit continued with a trip to Shanghai, where he met with President of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS) Chen Dongxiao. The discussion centred on ways to develop the CICA Think Tank Forum (TTF) initiated and first chaired by the SIIS. Kairat Sarybay noted that the transformation of the TTF into a permanent platform initiated by the Kazakh Chairmanship and supported by all Member States in 2021 offered additional avenues and set new objectives for the TTF in order to provide the Member States with relevant and reliable information and practical proposals to strengthen confidence building measures in the Asian continent. Following the discussion, the sides agreed to intensify efforts between the CICA Secretariat and the SIIS to prepare for the 11th TTF Meeting in Qinghai Province (China) this year.
The CICA Secretary General's visit concluded with a substantive conversation with Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Zhang Ming at the SCO headquarters. Kairat Sarybay spoke about the process of implementing the outcomes of the Sixth CICA Summit and joint projects and activities in areas of mutual interest. The sides agreed to enhance regional synergies between the two sister organizations, CICA and the SCO, which established cooperation in 2014 by signing a memorandum between their secretariats. The Protocol on Cooperation between the CICA Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure signed in 2017 in Tashkent and the agreement to continue the practice of mutual participation in CICA and SCO events and joint activities on security and cooperation in the region also should be noted.
The working visit of the CICA Secretary General to China was the latest in a series of visits to Member States of the Conference to discuss the outcomes of the Sixth CICA Summit and ways to implement its decisions. All meetings were held in a positive, friendly and trusting atmosphere.
The People's Republic of China is one of the founders of CICA, an active and steadfast supporter of enhancing the role and effectiveness of the Conference and its transformation.
