Kazakh Ambassador Confident of China-Kazakhstan RelationsAmbassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to China, Kuanysh Sultanov, said today that Kazakhstan- China relations have been developing well, and mutually beneficial cooperation in political, economic and trade areas will achieve an even greater success in the years ahead.He told a press conference that during Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to China in November last year, the two countries signed a joint statement on promoting cooperation in the 21st century, thus laying a solid foundation for the further growth of bilateral relations. In addition, the two countries also signed a joint communique on the comprehensive settlement of border issues. He said Kazakhstan held several seminars in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to attract Chinese investment last year. Trade volume between the two countries reported a record of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars last year. Since the beginning of the year, experts from both countries have held consultations on the exploitation of water resources of border rivers, he said. There is great potential for the two countries to boost cooperation in areas of energy, transportation, fertilizer, iron ore, steel, textile and agriculture, he said. The two countries signed an oil and natural resources accord in 1997. The construction of pipelines linking the two sides will increase Kazakhstan's capacity of exporting oil many times over to China, the ambassador said. Meanwhile, the construction of railways along the Eurasia Continental Bridge will facilitate China's export to Europe. With regard to the forthcoming Five-Nation Summit (China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan) in Dushanbe, capital city of Tajikistan, early next month, Sultanov said that leaders of the five countries are expected to discuss regional security and sign a joint statement. |
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