Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Saturday held talks in Astana with visiting Vice Premier Wu Yi on Chinese-Kazakh relations.  

Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan highly values its ties with China, is willing to keep close political contacts with China and will make earnest efforts to fulfill the cooperation agreements reached between the two countries during President Hu Jintao's visit days ago.

The president said his country will take measures to ensure a smooth implementation of major bilateral cooperative projects and maintain a high-level bilateral cooperation in such fields as trade, energy and transportation.

He also thanked China for supporting Kazakhstan's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

For her part, Wu expressed her appreciation of Nazarbayev's significant contributions to the development of bilateral ties over the years.

China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, sincere friends and reliable partners, Wu said.

She added that Nazarbayev and Hu's joint pronouncement of the decision to build a strategic partnership between both countries is of epoch-making significance to the development of bilateral ties, will greatly enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields and is conducive to peace, stability and development in the region and the world at large.

The vice premier said China attaches great importance to bilateral cooperation in such fields as trade, energy and infrastructure, and is ready to work with Kazakhstan to enrich and push forward the strategic partnership.

Both leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation, cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well as coordination and cooperation in the fight against the "three evil forces" -- extremism, separatism and terrorism -- so as to safeguard security and stability in both countries and the Central Asian region, and promote common development.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2005)