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Kazakhstan Looks Forward to Zhu's Visit, Says PM
Kazakh Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev said Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's forthcoming visit to Kazakhstan will be a major event for both Kazakh-Chinese relations and the country's foreign relations, and that the government and people are looking forward to the visit.
Tokayev made the remarks in an interview with Chinese journalists in the newly established government house in Astana.
He pointed out that the visit will be Zhu's first trip to Kazakhstan and Central Asia and thus has special significance.
The Kazakh government attaches great importance to the development of good relations with China, which is a priority in Kazakhstan's foreign policy, said the prime minister.
Recalling the high-level visits and meetings between the two countries' leaders since 1993, Tokayev said the development of bilateral relations is heading to the right direction.
He said the two countries have successfully resolved the border issue left over from history and have common stand on fighting separatism, terrorism and religious extremism. He added that Kazakhstan firmly supports China's stance on Taiwan.
On bilateral economic and trade relations, Tokayev said Kazakhstan, after Russia, has become China's second biggest trading partner among the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Bilateral trade amounted to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars last year and there is still a potential for growth.
He said Kazakhstan pays close attention to China's strategy to greatly develop central and western parts of the country, which will provide the two countries with a good opportunity for cooperation. Some Kazakh enterprises hope to participate in various projects of the ambitious program and his government has made financial preparations accordingly, said Tokayev.
"We want to have in-depth discussions with Premier Zhu on the status quo and future development of economic and trade cooperation between our two countries. We believe his visit will be successful," Tokayev said.
On the upcoming first summit of the six prime ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Alma Ata, Tokayev said the organization is a regional group with significant international influence. It is attracting wider attention from the world due to the participation of China, he said.
"In my opinion, one of the key tasks of this organization is to jointly combat the three forces (terrorism, extremism and separatism). In addition, cooperation in various fields such as economy and transportation should be strengthened so as to combine its political mission with economic cooperation," he said.
The prime minister said this year will mark the 10th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. In the past decade, Kazakhstan has not only won wide recognition of the international community, but also contributed to world peace and security.
Tokayev said proudly that his country is leading Central Asian countries in gross national product and social security. Besides, Kazakhstan has attracted more than 12 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment in the past decade, which is also in the lead among CIS countries.
The prime minister said new exploration in the Caspian Sea shows that Kazakhstan's oil reserves could be the fifth largest in the world and his country is expected to be a major oil exporter.
Describing the cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in the oil field as successful, the prime minister said he still sees broad prospects of cooperation between the two countries in this field.
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