Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on September 14-16, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday, in what would be his first official trip to a foreign nation since China all but shut its borders due to Covid-19.

The visit will coincide with a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, and Xi will meet with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a ministry statement said.

The trip underlines China’s strategic ties with Central Asian states at a time when relations with many Western nations have come under strain due to China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February.

Last month, the Wall Street Journal, citing people whom it did not name, reported that Xi was considering a trip to Central Asia to meet with Putin and other leaders at the SCO summit.

— Reuters