Xinhua, Astana :
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will kick off his first official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday. The two sides are expected to sign about 30 cooperative agreements worth 10 billion U.S. dollars during his two-day trip.
Li is scheduled to meet Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, hold the second regular meeting between the China-Kazakhstan heads of government together with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov, and attend the 13th prime ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
In a signed article published by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper on Saturday, Li said that he has expected to visit Kazakhstan for a long time, hailing it as a good neighbor of China.
“The Sino-Kazakh cooperation is developing rapidly, the volume of trade between the two countries is increasing annually by 20 percent. The interaction between China and Kazakhstan has reached a new level and extended to almost all areas of national economy. The expanding interaction brings more benefits for our countries,” Li said in the article.
Kazakhstan has become China’s second largest trade partner in the Commonwealth of the Independent States and its first investment destination in Eurasia, while China is the second largest trade partner and the largest export market of Kazakhstan, said Li.
He noted that China and Kazakhstan have created the most advanced bilateral cooperation mechanisms in the region. Their leaders meet regularly and there are no unresolved political issues in bilateral relations.
Congratulating Kazakhstan on its upcoming Independence Day, Li said the friendship between China and Kazakhstan has a long and profound history.
“Over 2,000 years ago, the two countries were linked by the ancient Silk Road, and now the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative enjoys profound historic connotation,” he said.
“The Silk Road Economic Belt will be characterized by openness and reciprocity, and China welcomes all sides’ participation in the plan and sharing of the benefits,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told a Friday news briefing on Li’s upcoming overseas tour.
The economic belt initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road from China via Central Asia and Russia to Europe was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Kazakhstan in September last year. Kazakhstan and many other countries have responded positively to the initiative.
Kazakhstan hopes to link its own development plan to the initiative and become a major passage in Eurasia. China and Kazakhstan have been cooperating well within the framework of the belt initiative.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will kick off his first official visit to Kazakhstan on Sunday. The two sides are expected to sign about 30 cooperative agreements worth 10 billion U.S. dollars during his two-day trip.
Li is scheduled to meet Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, hold the second regular meeting between the China-Kazakhstan heads of government together with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov, and attend the 13th prime ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
In a signed article published by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper on Saturday, Li said that he has expected to visit Kazakhstan for a long time, hailing it as a good neighbor of China.
“The Sino-Kazakh cooperation is developing rapidly, the volume of trade between the two countries is increasing annually by 20 percent. The interaction between China and Kazakhstan has reached a new level and extended to almost all areas of national economy. The expanding interaction brings more benefits for our countries,” Li said in the article.
Kazakhstan has become China’s second largest trade partner in the Commonwealth of the Independent States and its first investment destination in Eurasia, while China is the second largest trade partner and the largest export market of Kazakhstan, said Li.
He noted that China and Kazakhstan have created the most advanced bilateral cooperation mechanisms in the region. Their leaders meet regularly and there are no unresolved political issues in bilateral relations.
Congratulating Kazakhstan on its upcoming Independence Day, Li said the friendship between China and Kazakhstan has a long and profound history.
“Over 2,000 years ago, the two countries were linked by the ancient Silk Road, and now the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative enjoys profound historic connotation,” he said.
“The Silk Road Economic Belt will be characterized by openness and reciprocity, and China welcomes all sides’ participation in the plan and sharing of the benefits,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told a Friday news briefing on Li’s upcoming overseas tour.
The economic belt initiative to revive the ancient Silk Road from China via Central Asia and Russia to Europe was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Kazakhstan in September last year. Kazakhstan and many other countries have responded positively to the initiative.
Kazakhstan hopes to link its own development plan to the initiative and become a major passage in Eurasia. China and Kazakhstan have been cooperating well within the framework of the belt initiative.
