BEIJING, March 27  -- Chinese President Xi Jinpingmet with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov on Friday, calling for enhanced cooperation through the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

As guest of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Masimov is paying a working visit to China this week and will attend the annual Boao Forum for Asia conference, which will be held from Thursday to Sunday in south China's Hainan Province.

Noting the China-Kazakhstan comprehensive strategic partnership has experienced rapid development, Xi said the two sides should enhance mutual understanding of each other's policies, increase strategic mutual trust and push forward cooperation between the two countries.

Both China and Kazakhstan are at a crucial stage of development, said Xi, suggesting the two countries build a community of shared interests and destiny.

He called on the two countries to strengthen cooperation on key projects, the transfer of manufacturing capacity, finance, the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative and Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" initiative.

Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" initiative is aimed at revitalizing the country's economy while jointly promoting infrastructure construction cooperation, such as developing steel works, power plants and building railroads.

Stressing the commonality between the two initiatives, Masimov said they provide new opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

Kazakhstan hopes to beef up cooperation with China through the platform of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, he said.

He also suggested the establishment of Chinese cultural institutions in order to strengthen exchanges with China.

China and Kazakhstan are both founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

China is willing to work with Kazakhstan to push forward the perfection and development of the two mechanisms, Xi said.

China also hopes to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War with Kazakh people and the people of the world, he said.

Masimov appreciated China's support for the SCO and the CICA, saying Kazakhstan is willing to beef up coordination with China within the two mechanisms.

The Chinese people have made tremendous sacrifice for the victory of the Second World War, he said, adding that the two sides should jointly defend the outcomes of WWII.