President Hu Jintao arrived in Astana, capital of
Kazakhstan, on Friday for a state visit aimed at enhancing
pragmatic cooperation with the Central Asian state.
President Hu Jintao is
welcomed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana,
capital of Kazakhstan, on August 17, 2007. President Hu arrived in
Astana on Friday for a state visit aimed at enhancing pragmatic
cooperation with the Central Asian state.
Hu is scheduled to meet Kazakh leaders on Saturday to discuss
ways of promoting friendly relations and cooperation between the
two neighboring countries.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev greeted Hu at the
airport.
"As neighbors, we share rivers and mountains and the two peoples
enjoy a traditional friendship," Hu said in a written statement
upon arrival.
He said good-neighborly relations and cooperation between China
and Kazakhstan have witnessed rapid progress with enhanced
political mutual trust, ever closer trade and economic ties and
remarkable achievements in various fields.
The two countries have also coordinated closely in regional and
international affairs and their cooperation has brought tangible
benefits to the two peoples, Hu noted.
"My visit is aimed at enhancing the China-Kazakhstan friendship
and furthering bilateral cooperation," the Chinese president
said.
"I will hold talks with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in which
we will review bilateral relations, look into the prospect for
bilateral cooperation, institute layouts for bilateral relations
and exchange views on major international and regional issues," he
said.
During Hu's visit, the two countries will sign a number of
documents on political, economic and trade cooperation, said
Chinese officials.
In recent years, the two countries have achieved fruitful
results in cooperation in economy and trade, energy,
transportation.
Two-way trade hit US$8.36 billion last year, up 22.8 percent
from the previous year. Bilateral trade reached US$5.97 billion in
the first half of this year, up 60.4 percent from the same period
of last year.
China and Kazakhstan have made impressive achievements in
identifying and cracking down on the "three evil forces" of
terrorism, separatism and extremism, and cooperated well within the
framework of the United Nations, the SCO and the Conference on
Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
President Hu's visit to Kazakhstan coincides with the 15th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China
and Kazakhstan, and is of great significance to improving their
strategic partnership, enhancing political mutual trust and
deepening cooperation between the two countries, said Assistant
Foreign Minister Li Hui at a press briefing last Thursday.
President Hu's state visit to Kazakhstan will give more energy
to the China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership, he said.
The Chinese president arrived in Astana from Russia's
Chelyabinsk, where he observed a joint anti-terrorism drill staged
by the six member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO), together with leaders of other SCO members.
Before that he paid a state visit to Kyrgyzstan and attended a
SCO summit in Bishkek.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2007)
