Ready to join Tokayev for substantive, dynamic China-Kazakhstan community with shared future: Xi Jinping

ASTANA, 2024 July 3 Wednesday/Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday that he is ready to work with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to jointly build a more substantive and dynamic China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future, and inject more positive energy to the development and stability of the region and beyond.

Xi made the remarks in his meeting with Tokayev at the presidential palace in Astana.

In their small-group talks, he noted that last year Tokayev and him met twice in Xi’an and Beijing respectively, and made new arrangements and plans for the development of China-Kazakhstan relations, leading the “golden 30 years” of rapid development of China-Kazakhstan relations.

The Chinese side has always viewed its relations with Kazakhstan from a strategic and long-term perspective, and regards Kazakhstan as a priority in China’s neighborhood diplomacy and an important partner for cooperation in Central Asia.

Xi said China’s will and determination to maintain and grow bilateral relations stand firm, and will not be changed due to any single incident or transformations in the international situation.

China will always be a good neighbor and partner Kazakhstan can rely on and trust, he added.

The Chinese side, Xi also said, will continue to strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan in traditional energy such as natural gas, expand new energy cooperation including photovoltaic and wind power, encourage more Chinese enterprises to invest in Kazakhstan, and help Kazakhstan convert its resource advantages into development capabilities to achieve green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

Tokayev said Xi’s state visit to Kazakhstan is of historic significance to the development of Kazakhstan-China relations, hailing China as a friendly neighbor, close friend and important strategic partner of his country.

Based on solid good-neighborly friendship and firm mutual support, Kazakhstan-China relations have shown an unprecedented sound momentum of development, he said, noting that major achievements have been made in cooperation in trade, energy, agriculture, minerals and other fields, which have benefited the two peoples and set a good example for state-to-state relations.

Kazakhstan is ready to work with China to further tap the potential of bilateral cooperation in energy, minerals, new energy and connectivity and push bilateral relations to a new height, he said.

The Kazakh side appreciates China’s firm support for Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and will firmly abide by the one-China principle, resolutely fight against the “three forces” and safeguard the common security of the two countries, Tokayev added.

In their big-group talks, Xi said the friendly relations between China and Kazakhstan are rooted in the millennia-old ancient Silk Road, reinforced by 32 years of cooperation after the establishment of diplomatic relations, and have reached the high level of a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xi reiterated that no matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in its commitment to the China-Kazakhstan friendship, in its resolve to advance cooperation across the board, in its determination to continue mutual support on issues concerning each other’s core interests, and in its confidence in both countries realizing their development goals.

China and Kazakhstan are both at a critical stage of development and revitalization, Xi said, calling on the two sides to enhance the alignment of their development strategies and exchanges of governance experience, and implement more mutually beneficial cooperation projects to boost the development of their respective countries.

The Chinese side is ready to work with Kazakhstan on boosting economic and trade cooperation, and set a new goal of doubling two-way trade at an early date, he said.

He pledged that China will further expand imports of high-quality Kazakh goods and create new growth drivers for cooperation in e-commerce and digital economy, calling on the two sides to increase the scale of cooperation in production capacity investment, tap the potential of cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, and expand cooperation in electric vehicles, new energy, cross-border e-commerce and satellite communications.

China is willing to work with Kazakhstan to actively promote the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and build a multi-dimensional connectivity paradigm, Xi said.

He also said that China supports the holding of China tourism year in Kazakhstan in 2025, and has decided to open a second Luban Workshop in the Central Asian country.

Noting that at the airport after arrival, he was moved to hear a group of Kazakh teenagers sing “Ode to the Motherland” in standard and fluent Chinese, Xi said young people are the inheritors of China-Kazakhstan friendship from generation to generation.

He urged the two countries to give full play to the role of the culture centers and the Kazakhstan Branch of Beijing Language and Culture University to strengthen cultural exchanges, enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, especially the young generation, and strengthen public support for all-round cooperation between the two countries.

China, Xi noted, will assume the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) following Kazakhstan, saying that the Chinese side stands ready to jointly build an even closer SCO community with a shared future with the SCO member states including Kazakhstan.

Xi noted that China supports Kazakhstan in hosting the second China-Central Asia Summit next year and is ready to work with relevant parties including Kazakhstan to make the China-Central Asia mechanism better and stronger, and to promote the China-Central Asia cooperation to achieve more new results.

China is willing to work closely with Kazakhstan within the framework of the United Nations and other multilateral frameworks, practice genuine multilateralism and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries, Xi added.

For Tokayev, he said Xi’s visit to Kazakhstan once again proves that both sides attach great importance to and strongly hope for further enhancement of the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Kazakhstan and China, he said, enjoy a solid friendship spanning thousands of years and fruitful cooperation in various fields, adding that in recent years in particular, bilateral ties have entered a new “golden era,” with smooth progress in major cooperation projects and positive results in agriculture, green energy, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, contributing to the well-being of the two peoples.

Tokayev said his country is a reliable friend and partner of China, adding that it is an unswerving strategic priority for Kazakhstan to deepen friendly and strategic cooperation with China.

Speaking highly of China’s diplomatic concept of peace, a series of global initiatives put forward by Xi and China’s important contribution to promoting world peace and development, Tokayev said the Kazakh side is willing to work with China to promote the building of a Kazakhstan-China community with a shared future as well as a community with a shared future for mankind.

Tokayev stressed that Kazakhstan looks forward to working with China to earnestly implement the important outcomes of Xi’s visit, continuing to jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, making every effort to achieve the goal of doubling bilateral trade, strengthening cooperation in agriculture, economy and trade, new energy, cross-border e-commerce and electric vehicles, and advancing the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route.

Kazakhstan welcomes the establishment of culture centers in their respective country and Luban Workshop, said Tokayev said. He called for ensuring the China tourism year in 2025 a success, so as to keep closer bilateral sub-national cooperation as well as people-to-people exchanges in education, culture and other fields.

Kazakhstan will continue to actively participate in building the China-Central Asia mechanism, and closely coordinate with China within multilateral frameworks such as the SCO and the United Nations, Tokayev added.

Following the talks, the two heads of state signed the joint statement between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan, and witnessed the exchange of dozens of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of economy and trade, connectivity, aviation and aerospace, education and media.

Prior to their meeting, Kazakh fighter jets painted the sky with colored smoke trails to welcome the Chinese president. A group of six jets, while flying over the presidential palace, left behind them colored smoke trails of red and yellow, colors of the Chinese national flag. Xinhua