On July 23, 2020, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng held a group meeting with Ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, exchanging views on promoting the implementation of the outcomes of the Inaugural China-Central Asian Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Le Yucheng pointed out, COVID-19 epidemic is raging around the world and has a negative impact on exchanges among all countries. However, the pace of friendly cooperation between China and Central Asian countries has not been slowed down by the epidemic. Instead, it has become more stable and sound. The Foreign Ministers' meeting mechanism between China and Central Asian Countries has been officially launched recently, setting up a new platform for cooperation between China and Central Asian countries. The Chinese side is ready to take this opportunity to further strengthen cooperation with all parties in combating the epidemic, steadily advance the resumption of work and production of key projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, and push China's relations with Central Asian countries for new progress.

Highly commending China's achievements in the fight against COVID-19 and the great achievements in China's relations with Central Asian countries, Ambassadors of the five countries stressed that the Foreign Ministers' meeting mechanism was established with perfect timing, and expressed their readiness to jointly maintain and develop this new cooperation platform.