Visiting Vice President Zeng Qinghong Wednesday called for
substantiation of the strategic partnership between China and
Kazakhstan.
In a meeting with Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov, Zeng
said China regards Kazakhstan as an important strategic
partner.
The bilateral relationship is faced with a new opportunity of
development which both countries should fully embrace in order to
explore new ways of cooperation and enrich the strategic
partnership, Zeng said.
Zeng is in Astana for an official visit during which he will
attend the swearing-in ceremony of Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev.
Akhmetov expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation between
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the energy company
PetroKazakhstan (PK), and also the construction of the whole
China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline.
There still exists a big potential for energy cooperation
between the two countries, Akhmetov pointed out, hoping that they
could expand cooperation especially on economy, trade and
energy.
Also on Tuesday, Zeng met with Chairman of Kazakhstan Senate
(upper house) N. Abykaev, chairman of the Mazhlis (lower house of
parliament) Ural Muhamedzanov, and Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart
Kemelevich Tokayev during various parts of the day.
While meeting with the two Kazakh parliament leaders, Zeng said
the National People's Congress of China (NPC) is willing to
strengthen cooperation and increase exchanges with the Kazakh
parliament.
Both the NPC and the Kazakh parliament are playing an important
role in the political life in their respective country, Zeng said,
adding that their exchange of visits is conducive to enhancing
mutual understanding and friendship.
Abykaev said Kazakhstan attaches great importance to and highly
appraises the good-neighborly friendly bilateral relationship and
their cooperation on international and regional issues.
The two countries should continue to be dedicated to important
cooperation projects in a bid to push forward the development of
bilateral relations, Abykaev added.
Muhamedzanov, during his meeting with Zeng, noted that the
Kazakh parliament supports the enhancement of bilateral cooperation
in the fields of politics, economy, trade, security and humanities
for common development as both countries are devoted to economic
development.
He expressed his hope that the two parliaments would increase
their exchange of visits to make more contributions to the
development of Kazakhstan-China relations under the guidelines set
by Kazakh President Nazarbayev and President Hu Jintao.
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(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)
