On June 14, the International Academic Symposium on Central Asian Studies from the Perspective of Area Studies was successfully held at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU). The symposium was jointly organized by the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Secretariat for Country and Area Studies in Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. It was co-organized by the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn, and Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. The event was hosted by the China Association for Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies and the School of Foreign Languages of Northwestern Polytechnical University. More than one hundred experts, scholars, and faculty and student representatives from universities and research institutions at home and abroad attended the conference.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Professor Sun Yu, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Northwestern Polytechnical University. In his opening remarks, Lü Weidong, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of NPU, emphasized that against the backdrop of profound changes in the global landscape and the vigorous development of regional cooperation, deepening research on Central Asia is of great strategic significance. Luo Lin, Director of the Secretariat for Country and Area Studies in Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, elaborated on the importance of country and area studies as an emerging interdisciplinary field in serving national strategies and enhancing China’s understanding of the external world. Dogdurbek Chontoyev, President of Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn, expressed his hope to strengthen inter-university cooperation and jointly promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Li Zhenli, Deputy Director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that research should closely align the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of Central Asian countries so as to provide solid theoretical support for policy formulation.

During the opening ceremony, a plaque-unveiling ceremony was held for the Kyrgyzstan Research Center of Northwestern Polytechnical University, along with the appointment ceremony for think tank experts. Based on in-depth research on Kyrgyzstan and extending its focus to the broader Central Asian region, the center aims to build an open platform integrating policy consultation and resource sharing, thereby injecting new momentum into the development of country and area studies.

In the keynote session, Academician Abelbek Asankhanov from the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Professor Wang Zhan from Tianjin University, and Professor Han Zhibin from Northwest University delivered insightful presentations centered on themes such as “High-Quality Cooperation between China and Central Asia” and “The Theory and Practice of Building a Community with a Shared Future.” In addition, the symposium featured three parallel forums. More than one hundred participating faculty members and young scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on frontier issues in Central Asian studies, focusing on the latest developments in education, science and technology, culture, and diplomacy in Central Asian countries.

The symposium concluded successfully on the afternoon of June 14. Wang Gaozu, Party Secretary of the School of Foreign Languages at Northwestern Polytechnical University, introduced the university’s advantageous policies in talent recruitment and development to the participants. The successful convening of the symposium effectively promoted in-depth dialogue and intellectual exchange between Chinese and Central Asian think tanks and academic communities. It provided important academic support and intellectual impetus for exploring innovative pathways for China–Central Asia cooperation under the Belt and Road framework and for advancing the high-quality development of landmark cooperative projects, such as the Kazakhstan branch campus of Northwestern Polytechnical University.