Chinese President Xi Jinping (center) and leaders attending the China-Central Asia Summit head to a welcome banquet on May 18, 2023 at Tang Paradise in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. President Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted a welcome ceremony and banquet on Thursday for the Central Asian presidents and their wives. After the banquet, Xi, Peng and the guests watched an artistic performance to mark the opening of the year of culture and art of the peoples of China and Central Asia as well as the China-Central Asia youth arts festival. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

President Xi Jinping and leaders of the five Central Asian countries attend a ceremony to plant six pomegranate trees that represent China-Central Asia solidarity and cooperation after the first China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, concluded on May 19, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Peng Liyuan (center), wife of President Xi Jinping, Aigul Japarova (right), wife of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Ziroatkhon Mirziyoyeva, wife of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, visit on May 19, 2023, the historic Yisushe Theater in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Peng and her guests experienced shadow puppetry at an exhibition hall in the theater. Yisushe is one of the oldest troupes in China, and is still performing the traditional Qinqiang opera. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

A Turkmen entertainer sings a song at a performance for the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on May 18, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Residents in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, warmly welcome distinguished guests from Central Asia with folk art performances, including waist drum and Yangge dances, at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport on May 17, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Sue-Lin Low Chew Tung (center), a journalist from Now Grenada website, makes Fu tea at the media center of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, on May 16, 2023. Fu tea, produced in Shaanxi province, is made into brick-like forms. (FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY)