Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva called on Tuesday for deepening relations between China and Kyrgyzstan.

The two leaders made the call during their meeting in Astana prior to the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is set to open on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Hu spoke highly of the sustained healthy development of the relations between the two countries.

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kyrgyzstan, which will provide new opportunities for the development of the bilateral ties, Hu said.

China is willing to join hands with Kyrgyzstan to strengthen communication, consolidate political mutual trust and deepen cooperation in a wide range of fields, so as to elevate the bilateral relations to a new height, Hu said.

Hu pointed out that bilateral cooperation boasts great potential as the two economies are complementary to each other.

The Chinese leader urged both sides to promote bilateral trade, explore new growth points, push cooperation on major projects and strive for smooth implementation of cooperation projects on highway, railway and power generation.

Hu also said the Chinese side is willing to join hands with Kyrgyzstan to conduct close cooperation within the bilateral and SCO frameworks, and jointly combat terrorism, extremism and separatism as well as transnational organized crime like drug trafficking, so as to safeguard security and stability of the two countries and the region at large.

During the meeting, Otunbayeva agreed to Hu's views on boosting bilateral relations, saying both countries have long maintained good cooperative relations of mutual trust.

China is not only a close neighbor of Kyrgyzstan, but also the most intimate and reliable friend of Kyrgyzstan, Otunbayeva said.

Otunbayeva also said Kyrgyzstan is willing to work with the Chinese side to enhance political trust, deepen trade and economic cooperation, strengthen security cooperation and fight all forms of crimes, including acts of terrorism, extremism and separatism.