On May 15, 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media. Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping briefed on the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the upcoming state visits to China paid by some foreign heads of state during the summit.

I. The CICA summit

Cheng Guoping said that the fourth CICA summit will be held in Shanghai from May 20 to 21, and President Xi Jinping will chair the summit. Up till now, 46 state leaders and heads or representatives of international organizations have confirmed their attendance upon invitation, including 11 heads of state, two heads of government and ten heads of international organizations. At the summit, China will officially take over the CICA presidency from 2014 to 2016.

Cheng Guoping said that the CICA is a forum on Asia's security issues proposed by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan in 1992. At present, it has 24 member states and 13 observer states and organizations, which stretch across all sub-regions of Asia and represent a broad range of different social systems, religions, cultures and development stages. The purpose of the CICA is to enhance dialogue and cooperation and to promote peace, security and stability in Asia through establishing multilateral confidence-building measures. The CICA has established confidence-building measures in five major fields: military and politics, new threats and challenges, economy, ecology, and people-to-people and cultural engagement.

Cheng Guoping pointed out that currently, the overall situation in Asia is stable, and pursuing peace, seeking cooperation and promoting development are the mainstream in the region. Meanwhile, the intertwined traditional and non-traditional security threats have brought a series of challenges to the Asian countries. It is an urgent task for all the Asian countries to enhance mutual trust, join hands to cope with the old and new security issues and establish a secure environment conducive to the stable development in the region. China attaches great importance to the CICA process. We have actively participated in the establishment and implementation of all the confidence-building measures within the framework of the CICA and hosted several relevant CICA meetings. China hopes to take the opportunity of hosting the CICA summit and assuming the CICA presidency to promote all parties to carry forward the spirit of solidarity, coordination, mutual support and win-win cooperation, strive for common security, comprehensive security, cooperative security and sustainable security, and make greater contributions to pushing forward the development of the CICA and promoting dialogues and cooperation among the CICA member states.

Cheng Guoping said that the theme of this summit is "On Enhancing Dialogue, Trust and Coordination for a New Asia of Peace, Stability and Cooperation". The participating leaders will express their views on topics such as the "security situation in Asia" and "measures to promote CICA dialogue, trust and coordination". President Xi Jinping will deliver a keynote speech at the summit to expound China's views on the security situation in Asia, to put forward China's position on strengthening security dialogues and cooperation in Asia, and to urge the Asian countries to jointly safeguard regional peace and stability in Asia. President Xi Jinping will also announce major measures that China will take during its CICA presidency in promoting security in Asia and development of the CICA. The summit will issue the "Shanghai Declaration" which will elaborate on the shared views of the CICA member states on the international and regional situation, declare their unanimous stand on solving relevant hotspot issues and make plans for CICA's future development.

Cheng Guoping said that the summit will be held at the Shanghai Expo Center on May 21. In the evening of May 20, President Xi Jinping and his wife Mme. Peng Liyuan will hold a welcome banquet for the distinguished guests attending the summit and enjoy the evening gala with them. Prior to the summit, China will host the "Harmonious Asia" International Paintings Exhibition of Artists for Peace and the groundbreaking ceremony of the Training Base for China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization International Judicial Exchange and Cooperation.

Cheng Guoping said that he believes under the joint efforts of all parties, this summit will become a milestone event in the history of the CICA and in the security and cooperation progress of Asia.

II. The state visits during the summit

Cheng Guoping said that at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran will pay state visits to China and attend the CICA summit. President Xi Jinping will hold talks with them, making in-depth exchanges of views on further developing bilateral relations and on international and regional issues of common concern. The meeting between the heads of China and Russia will be the second one in this year and President Putin's first visit to China since President Xi Jinping took office. It will play a role of strategic guidance and top-level design in further developing China-Russia relations. The two heads of state will sign and issue a joint statement of great significance, indicating the important achievements in the development of the China-Russia relations in the new stage. The meeting between the heads of China and Kazakhstan is their third meeting this year, and is of great significance to deepening China-Kazakhstan all-dimensional cooperation. Cheng Guoping said that he believes the above-mentioned visits will inject new impetus into the development of China's bilateral relations with the relevant countries in the new era.