The leaders of China, Russia and four Central Asian states meet Thursday in Kyrgyzstan to build on growing military and political ties and counter US influence in the region.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as well as the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, were due in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

The SCO, founded six years ago, denies opposing Washington or any other outside power.

China’s ambassador to Moscow, Liu Guchang, said before the summit that "longterm good-neighbourliness, friendship and cooperation" would be discussed.

However, while US power has recently waned in some parts of Central Asia, the SCO is gaining clout.

The six countries’ presidents will underline this Friday when they go on to attend joint military exercises near Chelyabinsk in Russia, the first in the SCO’s history to involve servicemen from all member states.

Together, SCO states cover a vast territory including increasingly important gas and oil fields in Russia and Central Asia, as well as the emerging economic giant of China.

Many analysts also see the SCO as a bastion against Western pressure for free elections and open media in countries often criticised for restricting democratic rights.

Observer countries due to be represented in Bishkek include Iran and the reclusive Central Asian state of Turkmenistan.

Before flying to Bishkek, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met Wednesday in Turkmenistan with the gas-rich ex-Soviet republic’s leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

The Iranian president, a pariah in much of the West over his country’s nuclear programme, is seeking closer economic and political ties with China, Russia and the mostly Muslim Central Asian states.

On the eve of the summit, Hu met with Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

They signed agreements aimed at encouraging a recent surge in bilateral trade, and on fighting what was termed as terrorism in eastern Kyrgyzstan, where refugees from China’s Muslim Uigur minority have previously sought shelter.

After his stop in Russia for the military exercises, Hu will complete his tour with a trip to oil-rich Kazakhstan.

On the eve of the summit Putin met in Bishkek with his Kyrgyz counterpart Kurmanbek Bakiyev and said Russia was prepared to invest up to two billion dollars in Kyrgyz economic projects.