Special Report | Continuing the Silk Road friendship and seeking a new chapter of cooperation - Kazakhstan expects President Xi Jinping to attend the SCO summit and pay a state visit to Kazakhstan
Astana, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Continuing Silk Road friendship and seeking a new chapter of cooperation -- Kazakhstan expects President Xi Jinping to attend the SCO summit and pay a state visit to Kazakhstan
President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana from July 2 to 6, and will pay state visits to Kazakh President Tokayev and Tajik President Rahmon at the invitation of the two countries. Kazakhstan's people are eagerly looking forward to President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Tokayev jointly setting the course for the development of relations between Kazakhstan and China during this visit, and promoting the cooperation between the two countries to bear fruit in the political, economic, cultural and other fields. They also look forward to President Xi Jinping's visit to guide the further development of the SCO and promote the SCO countries to continue to inject impetus into regional peace, development and stability by adhering to the "Shanghai Spirit".
"Kazakhstan is eagerly looking forward to President Xi Jinping's visit. We believe that the meeting between the heads of state will benefit the people of both countries. The agreements reached will effectively promote the development of bilateral relations and open a new chapter in the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and China." Kazakh President Tokayev said in an interview with reporters on the eve of President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan.
"Every time I recall my meeting with the respected President Xi Jinping, I feel warm," Tokayev said. "We discussed hot issues and the prospects for a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries in an atmosphere of openness and trust, and exchanged views on the international situation."
President Xi Jinping has visited Kazakhstan four times since 2013, and President Tokayev has visited China five times since 2019. The two leaders have met on many occasions in multilateral settings and have also spoken on the phone many times. Close high-level exchanges are a reflection of the friendly relations between the two countries.
China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors connected by mountains and rivers, good friends who treat each other as equals, and good partners with similar aspirations. Over the past 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the relationship between the two countries has withstood the test of changing international situations, and has been continuously enriched, improved, and achieved more fruitful results. The two countries took the lead in resolving border issues, laying cross-border oil and gas pipelines, and carrying out international capacity cooperation... creating many "firsts".
Under the personal care and direct promotion of President Xi Jinping and President Tokayev, China and Kazakhstan have become permanent comprehensive strategic partners in the spirit of sharing weal and woe and mutual benefit. On this basis, in line with the trend of the times, they have decided to build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future, setting a new benchmark for bilateral relations, opening up new prospects and providing new impetus. Friendship from generation to generation, high mutual trust and sharing weal and woe have become the main theme of the relationship between the two countries.
Gulnar Shaymergenova, director of the Kazakhstan Center for Chinese Studies, said that Kazakhstan attaches great importance to developing a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership with China, and looks forward to President Xi Jinping's visit to continue to promote practical cooperation in various fields such as the Belt and Road Initiative between Kazakhstan and China.
"We always look forward to President Xi's visit." Adil Kaukeinov, director of the China Center, a Kazakh research institution, said that Kazakhstan and China have friendly relations from enterprises to people, and the cooperation between the two countries is fruitful. The people of Kazakhstan look forward to President Xi Jinping's visit again to inject new impetus into the cooperation between the two countries.
China and Kazakhstan both advocate developing international relations based on mutual respect, fairness and justice, win-win cooperation, equal participation in global governance, and consideration of each other's interests, and their cooperation within the framework of multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the China-Central Asia Mechanism has been continuously deepened. In October last year, when President Xi Jinping met with President Tokayev, who came to China to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, he expressed support for Kazakhstan to do a good job as the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and to push the cooperation of the organization to a new level.
"I look forward to listening to President Xi Jinping's new suggestions on how the SCO should develop under the current international context." Bolat Nurgaliyev, director of the Institute of Foreign Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and former secretary-general of the SCO, said that the rapid development of the SCO in many fields such as politics, economy, culture and humanities is inseparable from the care and support of China.
"I hope that President Xi Jinping's visit will further promote cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in transportation and connectivity. I hope that more China-Europe freight trains will run between the two countries, enhancing Kazakhstan's role as a transit hub." In Zharkent, a small city in Kazakhstan on the China-Kazakhstan border, Murat Suleymanov, the production manager who has worked at the "Khorgos-Eastern Gate" dry port for nearly 10 years, is looking forward to President Xi Jinping's visit.
The "Horgos-Eastern Gate" dry port is an important stop on the China-Europe Express's trans-Caspian Sea transport route, where goods are transferred from China's standard-gauge railway to Kazakhstan's broad-gauge railway. This route starts from the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Cooperation Base, exits the country at Horgos, Xinjiang, crosses the Caspian Sea via the Aktau Port in western Kazakhstan, and finally arrives at the Port of Baku in Azerbaijan. This route has been in regular operation since the beginning of this year.
In recent years, China and Kazakhstan have carried out in-depth cooperation on strengthening the strategic connection between the Belt and Road Initiative and Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" new economic policy, comprehensively strengthening connectivity, solidly advancing capacity cooperation, promoting the implementation of a number of major strategic projects in Kazakhstan, and promoting the quality and upgrading of economic and trade cooperation. The two countries have opened multiple pairs of year-round highway ports and two cross-border railway trunk lines. In 2023, the number of China-Europe trains passing through Kazakhstan through the Horgos and Alashankou ports will be 7,762 and 6,635 respectively, up 9.8% and 6.8% year-on-year. As of May this year, 26 of the 45 capacity cooperation projects established between China and Kazakhstan have been completed, involving metallurgy and minerals, energy resources, machinery manufacturing, building materials and chemicals, infrastructure construction and other fields. In 2023, China became Kazakhstan's largest trading partner, with the trade volume between the two countries reaching US$41 billion, up 32% year-on-year.
"We expect President Xi Jinping's visit to inject new impetus into the economic and trade cooperation between Kazakhstan and China," Aklbek Anarbayev, general manager of business development at Astana Automobile, told reporters. The company is building a multi-brand automobile factory in the industrial zone of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, to produce Chinese brand cars such as Chery and Changan according to the agreement, and plans to start production in 2025. Anarbayev said that he hopes that more Chinese automobile brands will enter Kazakhstan in the future to meet the growing demand of local users for high-quality cars.
On the vast grasslands of Akmola Oblast in northern Kazakhstan, white turbine generators stand tall, their blades slowly turning in the wind. This is a 205MW wind power project in Akmola Oblast built by a Chinese company. Yerbora Edir, a young Kazakh man, told reporters that working here gives him a sense of accomplishment. "I look forward to President Xi Jinping's visit to continue to promote cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in the field of new energy and bring more benefits to the people of Kazakhstan."
"I believe that President Xi Jinping's visit will further promote cultural exchanges between Kazakhstan and China." Ruslan, a young man from Kazakhstan, expressed his expectations in an interview with reporters. Ruslan studied at Hainan University and has donated "panda blood" to help Chinese patients many times since 2009. President Xi Jinping introduced his story in his speech during his visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013. Today, he is the global press officer of the Hainan International Economic Development Bureau.
As a China-Kazakhstan friendship envoy praised by President Xi Jinping, Ruslan pays special attention to the cultural exchanges between the two countries. He said: "This year is China's 'Kazakhstan Tourism Year'. I hope there will be more cultural exchanges such as film and television works and museum cooperation, so that the people of the two countries can understand each other and enhance friendship."
China and Kazakhstan have achieved fruitful results in the field of humanities, and good news has been coming recently: On October 12, 2023, the Northwestern Polytechnical University Kazakhstan Branch, jointly established by China's Northwestern Polytechnical University and "Ali Farabi" Kazakh National University, was officially put into use. The first batch of master's students of the school will come to China to start their graduation research projects in the near future; On November 10, 2023, the China-Kazakhstan visa exemption agreement came into effect; On November 27, 2023, the two countries signed an agreement on the establishment of cultural centers in each other's countries; The "Luban Workshop", a golden signboard of Chinese vocational education, settled in Kazakhstan in 2023, has now started expansion... Humanities exchanges have brought the two peoples closer and deepened their friendship. As of March 2024, the two sides have established 26 pairs of friendly provinces, cities and states.
Education is a highlight of China-Kazakhstan cultural cooperation. Currently, there are more than 10,000 Kazakh students studying in China, and Kazakh universities have attracted thousands of young Chinese to study. Kazakhstan has established five Confucius Institutes, and five Chinese universities have opened Kazakh language majors.
Taya, a young Kazakh who came to Northwestern University to study in 2023, is a fan of Chinese culture. "China has a long history and culture, and modern China is also very open and dynamic. I believe I can find my ideal future here," Taya said. "I hope to let people in our country know more about China. I want to spread not only the world-renowned 'Made in China' or 'Chinese brands', but also the advanced concepts and methods behind them."
Yelk Toktarbekova is currently studying at the Confucius Institute at Eurasian University in Kazakhstan. She has been learning Chinese for four years and has participated in the "Chinese Bridge" competition twice and won awards. She plans to continue her studies at Chinese universities in the future, see China's beautiful scenery and development achievements with her own eyes, and experience the profound heritage of Chinese culture. She is full of expectations for President Xi Jinping's visit to Kazakhstan again: "I believe that this visit will promote closer economic cooperation and richer cultural exchanges between the two countries, and provide more opportunities for the young generations of the two countries."
