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)