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Kazakhstan ambassador: Development plans aligned smoothly

Updated: June 8, 2017 Source: Belt and Road Portal
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Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan will futher deepen the ties between the two countries, said Kazakhstan Ambassador to China Shakhrat Nuryshev in a recent interview with People’s Daily.

From June 7 to 10, President Xi will pay a state visit to Kazakhstan and attend the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Astana.

Nuryshev said, The two countries’ bilateral ties are at their historical best. As comprehensive strategic partners and friendly neighbors, they can explore the possibility of cooperation extensively in the fields of politics, trade, economics, transportation, energy and finance.

The meeting between President Xi and President Nursultan Nazarbayev will cover topics of mutual concern, including  regional security, international security and bilateral cooperation within the framework of international organizations, according to him.

He stressed that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing from May 14 to 15 was of great significance because it helps other countries to better understand the initiative.

Nuryshev noted, A total of 29 heads of state and government leaders and delegations from 130 countries attended the event. This shows the initiative has become a global initiative.

He stressed that China proposed the initiative against the backdrop of a sluggish global economy.  China is willing to share development opportunities with other countries to boost world economic growth and strive for win-win cooperation.

During the G20 Summit in Hangzhou last September, China and Kazakhstan signed a cooperation plan to align China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Kazakhstan's Bright Road new economic policy.

Nuryshev said that the two development plans have been connected smoothly.

He mentioned that the most successful cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative lies in the field of cross-border transportation. Currently, there are three international transport corridors going through Kazakhstan: the Eurasian Land Bridge from China to Russia and Europe, the transport corridor linking China and Iran, and the one from China to Transcaucasian countries and Europe.  The two countries have close cooperation in transit transportation.

In 2016, about 200,000 standard containers passed Kazakhstan through the three corridors, and the number is expected to rocket to 800,000 in 2020.

Nuryshev said industrial capacity cooperation in the fields of metallurgy industry, petrochemical industry, machine building industry, etc, is central to bilateral cooperation.

There are so far 51 industrial capacity cooperation projects between the two countries, with a total value of US$26 billion, according to him.

Currently, there are 13,000 Kazakhstan students studying in China. There are three Kazakhstan cultural centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian. The fourth one will soon be established in Xi’an, capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.

Kazakhstan has opened 60 tourism routes for foreign travelers. Nuryshev welcomes more Chinese tourists to visit the country during the three-month World Expo 2017 in Astana.

Editor: liuyue