Chinese president meets Kazakh parliament speaker

ASTANA, Sept. 7 -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed bilateral ties with the speaker of Kazakh Parliament's Lower House Nurlan Nigmatulin here on Saturday.

Noting that this is his first visit to Kazakhstan, Xi said he and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev held fruitful talks and together planned the future for their bilateral cooperation.

Xi said cooperation between the two countries' legislatures is an important part of the China-Kazakhstan comprehensive strategic partnership.

He called on the two sides to expand friendly exchanges, share experience and learn from each other in such fields as governance, democracy and rule of law, so as to support and boost cooperation between China and Kazakhstan.

He also urged the two sides to enhance cooperation in international arena, joining other emerging markets and developing countries to present to the world their choice of development path, increase their say in international affairs, and push forward the democratization of the international relations, Xi said.

For his part, Nigmatulin said Xi's visit dynamically pushed forward the two countries' neighborly friendship and strategic cooperation.

Nigmatulin said Kazakhstan believed China's economy will maintain sound development momentum, and his country wants to learn from China and deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

Xi arrived here Friday for his first state visit to Kazakhstan after attending a Group of 20 summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

After his Kazakhstan trip, Xi is scheduled to pay state visits to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Before the G20 summit, he visited Turkmenistan.

The Chinese president will also attend the 13th meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Kyrgyzstan.