Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport for a state visit to Kazakhstan, Sept 14, 2022. Xi was warmly welcomed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and a group of senior officials including Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi and Nur-Sultan Mayor Altai Kulginov. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
President Xi Jinping spoke highly on Wednesday of China-Kazakhstan friendship and cooperation as he met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the neighboring country's capital, Nur-Sultan, saying China is willing to work with Kazakhstan to ensure that they are strong supporters of each other's development and rejuvenation.
As this year marks the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan, Xi, who was making a state visit to the Central Asian nation, said the two countries have witnessed fruitful results in bilateral ties over the past years and taken the lead on a series of issues, from solving border issues to conducting international production capacity cooperation.
Noting that China-Kazakhstan cooperation enjoys a solid foundation, huge potential and broad prospects, President Xi urged that both sides make good use of existing mechanisms to deepen strategic alignment and leverage their complementary advantages to take bilateral cooperation to a higher level and a larger scale
China highly values developing its relations with Kazakhstan and firmly supports the reform measures it has taken to safeguard national stability and development, Xi said, adding that China will always be a friend and partner that Kazakhstan can trust and rely on.
Noting that China-Kazakhstan cooperation enjoys a solid foundation, huge potential and broad prospects, the Chinese president urged that both sides make good use of existing mechanisms to deepen strategic alignment and leverage their complementary advantages to take bilateral cooperation to a higher level and a larger scale.
He also called on the two countries to promote high-quality Belt and Road development, expand cooperation in such areas as trade, the economy and interconnectivity, and explore cooperation in new fields including big data, digital finance and green energy.
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In February, Tokayev traveled to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games and met with Xi.
"The strategic navigation offered by the two heads of states maps out blueprints and charts a course for the two sides in rolling out cooperation in various fields," Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao said in an article published in People's Daily on Wednesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport for a state visit to Kazakhstan, Sept 14, 2022. Xi was warmly welcomed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and a group of senior officials including Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi and Nur-Sultan Mayor Altai Kulginov. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
The booming pragmatic cooperation between the two countries could be illustrated by their bilateral trade in the first seven months of the year, which reached $17.7 billion, up 18.9 percent year-on-year.
With regard to production capacity, the two countries have identified 52 cooperative projects totaling $21.2 billion, covering sectors including mining, energy, industry, commerce, transportation and shipping.
"China's branded electronic devices, cellphones and automobiles are widely acclaimed in Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan's high-quality, green agricultural products have won recognition from Chinese consumers. Economic complementarity and interdependence between the two countries are constantly rising," said Zhang, the ambassador.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport for a state visit to Kazakhstan, Sept 14, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
Yerlan Madiyev, a China expert at the World Economy and Politics Institute, a Kazakh think tank, said that China has long supported the construction and socioeconomic development of Central Asian countries, and has gained trust from countries in the region
Yerlan Madiyev, a China expert at the World Economy and Politics Institute, a Kazakh think tank, said that China has long supported the construction and socioeconomic development of Central Asian countries, and has gained trust from countries in the region.
"China has always been one of the most important strategic partners of Kazakhstan in every field of bilateral cooperation," he said.
China is Kazakhstan's fifth-largest source of foreign investment, and amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade continues to grow at a rapid rate, he added.
Bulat Sultanov, director of the Research Institute of International and Regional Cooperation at Kazakh-German University, said China-Kazakhstan strategic cooperation is "of particular importance in the current situation".
Amid the current geopolitical changes in the world, China-Kazakhstan teamwork could focus on attracting more Chinese investment to Kazakhstan and boosting the synergy of the development visions pursued by the two countries, he added.
The scholar highlighted promising areas for the two nations to work on, such as establishing a "digital Silk Road" based on digital technologies and boosting exports of Kazakhstan's agricultural products to China.
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After concluding his whirlwind trip to Nur-Sultan, Xi arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday evening, the second stop of his three-day visit to Central Asia.
