Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the foreign ministers of the five Central Asia countries and addressed the Fifth Silk Road International Exposition in Xian on May 12. While the Expo was largely online and attracted more than 1,900 guests from 98 countries, Wang Yi was meeting in person with his Central Asian counterparts in the C+C5 group. The ministers discussed the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the plans for the coming years. Wang Yi stressed five issues for closer collaboration: fighting the pandemic, increasing innovation and building more “pilot zones” along the Belt and Road, improving connectivity and the flow of goods along the central Silk Road Belt, using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and CICA to fight terrorism and extremism, and charting a new blueprint for high-quality development, dealing with environmental issues like the Aral Sea and introducing China’s methods of alleviating poverty. The leaders also congratulated China on the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1875496.shtml