ASTANA - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday met here with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Tokayev asked Wang to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping, noting that China's international status continues to rise and its role in the world is increasingly significant. The country is making greater contributions to global peace and stability.

Kazakhstan firmly adheres to the one-China principle, a position that will never change as no country should be divided, Tokayev said, adding that Kazakhstan is a trustworthy partner for China, steadfastly supporting the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by Xi.

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Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed Xi's cordial greetings to Tokayev. He said that China and Kazakhstan - connected by mountains and rivers - are good neighbors, good friends who treat each other as equals and good partners with common goals.

China's development represents a growing peaceful force in the world, enhances stability and strengthens the capabilities of developing countries and emerging economies, Wang said

China's development represents a growing peaceful force in the world, enhances stability and strengthens the capabilities of developing countries and emerging economies, Wang said, adding that China's development and revitalization will bring new opportunities to other countries including Kazakhstan.

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According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade reached $41 billion last year, achieving the target set by the two heads of state seven years ahead of schedule. To date, 26 out of the 45 capacity cooperation projects have been completed, in such sectors as mining and metals, energy resources, machinery manufacturing, building materials, chemicals and infrastructure construction. Cooperation in oil and gas and nuclear energy is also accelerating.

The two sides agreed to continue leveraging their industrial and market complementarities to jointly participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with high quality.

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Both sides actively support the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor, which they believe is crucial for promoting connectivity across the Eurasian continent. China and Kazakhstan are discussing the construction of a third cross-border railway and will further utilize the capabilities of the Xi'an Land Port, Lianyungang Logistics Base, and Dongdamen Dry Port to explore the potential of their transit transport capacities, Wang said.

He said both parties believe that the China-Kazakhstan people-to-people and cultural cooperation is significant and promising. Currently, over 10,000 Kazakh students are studying in China, and Kazakhstan's universities have attracted over 1,000 Chinese students to study there. Kazakhstan has established five Confucius Institutes, and China has five institutions offering Kazakh language courses. Last November, China and Kazakhstan implemented mutual visa exemptions, and this year's "Kazakhstan Tourism Year" in China was a success. A total of 26 pairs of sister provinces and cities have been established between the two countries.

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The two sides will utilize platforms such as the Luban Workshop, Confucius Institutes, and the Northwestern Polytechnical University campus in Kazakhstan to accelerate the establishment of cultural centers, encourage more sister province and city relationships, deepen exchanges in think tanks, media, arts, and continuously enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples, Wang said.

Both sides praised the success of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xi'an, which has ushered in a new phase of enhanced cooperation between China and Central Asia.

Wang stressed that China highly appreciates Kazakhstan's role as the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He expressed the belief that the foreign ministers' meeting will be successful and lay a solid foundation for the upcoming SCO summit.