Xi hails strong ties with Kazakhstan (2)

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives at the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport for a state visit to Kazakhstan, Sept 14, 2022. Xi was warmly welcomed by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and a group of senior officials including Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi and Nur-Sultan Mayor Altai Kulginov. [Photo/Xinhua]

In February, Tokayev traveled to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games and met with Xi.

"The strategic navigation offered by the two heads of states maps out blueprints and charts a course for the two sides in rolling out cooperation in various fields," Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao said in an article published in People's Daily on Wednesday.

The booming pragmatic cooperation between the two countries could be illustrated by their bilateral trade in the first seven months of the year, which reached $17.7 billion, up 18.9 percent year-on-year.

With regard to production capacity, the two countries have identified 52 cooperative projects totaling $21.2 billion, covering sectors including mining, energy, industry, commerce, transportation and shipping.

"China's branded electronic devices, cellphones and automobiles are widely acclaimed in Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstan's high-quality, green agricultural products have won recognition from Chinese consumers. Economic complementarity and interdependence between the two countries are constantly rising," said Zhang, the ambassador.

Yerlan Madiyev, a China expert at the World Economy and Politics Institute, a Kazakh think tank, said that China has long supported the construction and socioeconomic development of Central Asian countries, and has gained trust from countries in the region.