Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev arrived in China on Monday evening to attend a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) this week in Beijing.

It is his first visit to the country since taking office late last year. He comes to China as guest of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

President Atambayev told Xinhua in a recent interview before his China trip and the Beijing summit that after more than a decade since its foundation, SCO has become an important and influential international group committed to safeguarding regional peace and stability, improving trade and boosting people-to-people exchanges.

He also called on all SCO members to further strengthen political mutual trust, deepen security cooperation and promote multilateral cooperation in trade and economy, as well as other fields.

(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2012)