Xi Jinping holds talks with Kazakh President Tokayev

On the morning of July 3rd local time, President Xi Jinping held talks with Kazakh President Tokayev at the Presidential Palace in Astana.

When Xi Jinping arrived at the Presidential Palace by car, President Tokayev warmly welcomed him. Six fighter jets of the Kazakh Air Force flew over the Presidential Palace, pulling out red and yellow smoke symbols of the Chinese national flag, welcoming Xi Jinping's state visit to Kazakhstan with the highest etiquette.

Tokayev held a grand welcome ceremony for Xi Jinping.

The Presidential Palace Hall was magnificent and the guards of honor were majestic and upright. The two heads of state shook hands with each other's accompanying personnel one by one. The two heads of state stepped onto the reviewing stand and the military band played the national anthems of China and Kazakhstan. Xi Jinping reviewed the guard of honor accompanied by Tokayev.

After the welcoming ceremony, the two heads of state held a small-scale meeting.

Xi Jinping pointed out that last year, President Tokayev and I met twice in Xi'an and Beijing, and made new arrangements and plans for the development of China-Kazakhstan relations, leading the rapid development of China-Kazakhstan relations in the "golden 30 years". China has always viewed China-Kazakhstan relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and regards Kazakhstan as a priority direction of China's peripheral diplomacy and an important cooperation partner in Central Asia. China's willingness and determination to maintain and develop China-Kazakhstan relations are unswerving and will not change due to temporary events or international changes. China will always be a good neighbor and partner that Kazakhstan can rely on and trust. China is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan on traditional energy such as natural gas, expand cooperation on new energy such as photovoltaics and wind power, support more Chinese companies to invest in Kazakhstan, and help Kazakhstan transform its resource advantages into development capabilities and achieve green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

Tokayev said that President Xi Jinping's state visit to Kazakhstan is of historic and great significance to the development of Sino-Kazakhstan relations. China is a friendly neighbor, close friend and important strategic partner of Kazakhstan. Based on solid good-neighborliness and firm mutual support, Sino-Kazakhstan relations have shown an unprecedented good development momentum. Cooperation in trade, energy, agriculture, minerals and other fields has achieved important results, benefiting the people of both countries and is a model of relations between countries. Kazakhstan congratulates China on its all-round historic achievements and believes that under the wise leadership of President Xi Jinping, China will surely make new and greater achievements on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Kazakhstan is willing to work with China to further tap the potential for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, minerals, new energy, connectivity and other fields, and promote the development of bilateral relations to a new height. Kazakhstan thanks China for its firm support for Kazakhstan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and will firmly abide by the one-China principle, resolutely combat the "three forces" and safeguard the common security of the two countries.

Subsequently, the two heads of state held a wide-ranging meeting.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the friendship between China and Kazakhstan is rooted in the ancient Silk Road that has lasted for thousands of years. After 32 years of cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations, it has reached the high level of permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. Generational friendship, high mutual trust, and sharing weal and woe have become the main theme of China-Kazakhstan relations. No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in its original intention to maintain China-Kazakhstan friendship, its perseverance in promoting all-round cooperation, its determination to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, and its confidence in achieving the development goals of each country. China is willing to work with Kazakhstan to build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future that is more meaningful and dynamic, and inject more positive energy into the development and stability of the region and the world.

Xi Jinping stressed that both China and Kazakhstan are at a critical stage of their respective development and revitalization. The two sides should strengthen the docking of their development strategies and exchange of experience in state governance, implement more mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation projects, and help their respective countries develop. China is willing to enhance the level of economic and trade cooperation with Kazakhstan, establish a new goal of doubling bilateral trade volume as soon as possible in the future, further expand imports of high-quality goods from Kazakhstan, and create new growth points for cooperation such as e-commerce and digital economy. The two sides should expand the scale of cooperation in production capacity investment, tap the potential for cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and expand cooperation in electric vehicles, new energy, cross-border e-commerce, satellite communications and other fields. China is willing to actively promote the construction of international transport routes across the Caspian Sea with Kazakhstan and build a diversified and three-dimensional interconnection pattern. China supports the holding of the "China Tourism Year" in Kazakhstan next year and has decided to open a second Luban Workshop in Kazakhstan. Yesterday, I was very moved when I heard a Kazakh teenager singing "Singing the Motherland" in standard and fluent Chinese at the airport. Young people are the inheritors of the friendship between China and Kazakhstan from generation to generation. The two sides should give full play to the role of the cultural centers of the two countries and the Kazakhstan Branch of Beijing Language and Culture University, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the people of the two countries, especially the younger generation, and lay a solid social and public opinion foundation for the all-round cooperation between the two countries.

Xi Jinping spoke highly of Kazakhstan's work as the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and wished the Astana Summit hosted by Kazakhstan a complete success. Xi Jinping said that after the Astana Summit, China will take over the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and China is willing to work with Kazakhstan and other member states to build a closer community of shared future for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China supports Kazakhstan in hosting the second China-Central Asia Summit next year and is willing to work with Kazakhstan and other relevant parties to improve and strengthen the China-Central Asia mechanism and promote more new achievements in China-Central Asia cooperation. China is willing to work closely with Kazakhstan within the framework of multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, practice true multilateralism, and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and the vast number of developing countries.

Tokayev said that President Xi Jinping's state visit to Kazakhstan once again proved that both Kazakhstan and China attach great importance to and strongly hope to further enhance the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and China. Kazakhstan and China have a solid friendship spanning thousands of years, and have achieved fruitful results in cooperation in various fields. In particular, in recent years, under the personal care and guidance of President Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan-China relations have entered a new "golden era", major cooperation projects between the two countries have progressed smoothly, and cooperation in agriculture, green energy, humanities and other fields has achieved positive results, contributing to the well-being of the two peoples. Kazakhstan firmly adheres to the one-China principle and is a reliable friend and partner of China. Deepening friendly strategic cooperation with China is Kazakhstan's unswerving strategic priority. Kazakhstan highly appreciates China's peaceful diplomatic philosophy and the series of global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, and highly appreciates China's important contribution to promoting world peace and development. It is willing to work with China to promote the building of a community with a shared future for Kazakhstan and China and a community with a shared future for mankind. Kazakhstan looks forward to conscientiously implementing the important outcomes of President Xi Jinping's visit with China, continuing to build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, making every effort to achieve the goal of doubling bilateral trade volume, strengthening cooperation in agriculture, economy and trade, new energy, cross-border e-commerce, electric vehicles and other fields, and accelerating the construction of international transport routes across the Caspian Sea. Kazakhstan welcomes the establishment of the Kazakhstan-China Cultural Center and Luban Workshop, actively organizes the "China Tourism Year" next year, and strengthens the local cooperation between the two countries and exchanges and cooperation in education, culture and other humanities fields. Kazakhstan will continue to actively participate in the construction of the China-Central Asia mechanism and closely coordinate with China in multilateral frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the United Nations.

After the talks, the two heads of state jointly signed the "Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan" and witnessed the exchange of dozens of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of economy and trade, connectivity, aerospace, education, media and other fields.

At noon that day, Xi Jinping attended a grand welcome banquet hosted by President Tokayev.