On the eve of a state visit to China, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev called for closer ties between his country and China.
At the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Nazarbayev is to visit China from April 15 to April 19, his 16th visit to the neighboring country.
The frequent visits themselves are a testimony of the attention paid by the two countries to each other, Nazarbayev said in an exclusive interview with China's Xinhua news agency and People's Daily.
Kazakhstan and China share a borderline of more than 1,700 km, and bilateral relations have developed with great momentum since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1992.
The China-Kazakhstan Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in 2002 serves as a cornerstone of their strategic partnership facing the 21st century, Nazarbayev said, adding that the two countries have completely solved the boundary issue, and turned their border region into a land of friendship and trade.
Kazakhstan firmly supports China's combat against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and is China's faithful alliance in the campaign.
"We will always remember that China had provided security guarantee to Kazakhstan after the latter gave up developing nuclear weapons," he said, adding the move has further strengthened bilateral ties.
On bilateral trade relations, Nazarbayev said that the railway through Allah Mountain pass, built in the early 1990s, has linked China and Kazakhstan closely and bilateral trade volume has been increasing constantly ever since.
The Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline, which is already in operation and the Kazakhstan-China natural gas pipe, which is still under construction, are of historic significance, and the two countries have conducted down-to-earth cooperation in both energy and non-energy sectors.
Kazakhstan spoke highly of the measures taken by the Chinese government to tackle the global financial crisis, saying that China's anti-crisis measures are very effective, which greatly mitigated the negative impact of the crisis.
With a vast land and a huge population, China is a great country and one of the most important economies in the world. The economic measures taken by the Chinese government in order to expand domestic demand and maintain growth are not only vital for the economic development of China itself, but also influential to the world as a whole, he said.
China's role is of global significance. Its huge market, abundant foreign exchange reserve and effective crisis response measures are an enormous support for the world economic revival, said the Kazakh president.
China is bound to conquer the crisis and emerge as an even stronger country, he said.
Nazarbayev said as part of the global economy, Kazakhstan has also felt the difficulties arising from the economic crisis.
