President Xi holds talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart in Bishkek

President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony at the presidential administration building in Bishkek.

Xi expresses readiness to work closely with Kyrgyzstan to share governance practices and foster pragmatic economic collaboration.

He landed in Bishkek Sunday afternoon for the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit and to pay a state visit to the Central Asian country.

President Xi's limousine, flanked by mounted guards, pulls into the Yntymak Ordo presidential palace square this morning.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his wife Aigul Japarova step forward to greet Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan, exchanging cordial handshakes.

A military band plays the countries' national anthems as the two heads of state review the guard of honour and a march-past.

They then proceed to closed-door bilateral talks.

Xi notes in a written speech published upon his arrival that their cooperation has ushered in a "golden period" of leapfrog development and hails the time-honoured traditional friendly exchanges between their peoples.

He stresses bilateral trade volume have reached new highs.

Major projects, such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, have been successfully implemented, and the tangible results of mutually beneficial cooperation have broadly benefited the two peoples, the president says.

He calls on the two sides to practice multilateralism and work together to steadily advance their multifaceted cooperation.

The two nations have signed a joint declaration alongside a treaty on permanent neighbourliness and friendly cooperation.

Their delegations ink over 20 deals spanning fields of science, education, culture and media.

As this is his third time visiting this beautiful land, Xi says he expects to work with Japarov to map out a new blueprint for relations and make new progress in building an SCO community with a shared future.

Xi adds China is convinced that with their concerted efforts, this year's SCO Bishkek summit will be a crowning success that provides fresh impetus for carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit.