According to a Foreign Ministry news briefing, President Xi Jinping will begin his visit to Kazakhstan on May 7 at the invitation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The two leaders will work to produce a blueprint for cooperation and discuss the construction of the One Road and One Belt (Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road).

Yao Peisheng, former Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, told People's Daily Online that President Xi has visited Kazakhstan twice in three years, which will greatly promote the mutual political trust between the two countries.

In September 2013, President Xi paid a two-day state visit to Kazakhstan. In May 2014, Nazarbayev visited China and the two leaders exchanged views on the China-Kazakhstan relationship and on international and regional issues of common concern.

"As well as the state visits, top leaders of the two countries have also met on multiple occasions such as the 4th CICA Summit, 14th SCO Summit in Dushanbe and the Boao Forum," said Yao Peisheng. With a high level of mutual political trust, China and Kazakhstan have set an example of good-neighborly relations.

President Xi first put forward the strategic initiative of One Road and One Belt in Kazakhstan. As a result the cooperation on the initiative between the two countries has attracted much attention.

Li Jianmin, researcher of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European, Central Asian Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told People's Daily Online that Nazarbayev had responded actively to the One Belt and One Road initiative in a recent policy speech. He planned to connect the One Belt and One Road with Kazakhstan's "bright avenue" policy. China and Kazakhstan have carried out new type of manufacturing cooperation in steel, glass and metallurgy, which will exert a profound influence on cooperation between China and Middle Asian countries.

According to Yao Peisheng, Central Asia is an important region along the Silk Road Economic Belt, and Kazakhstan has unique geographic advantages. Right now, cooperation projects between China and Kazakhstan have expanded beyond the resource field and into non-resource areas.

When meeting with Kazakhstani Premier Karim Masimov this March in Beijing, President Xi pointed out that China and Kazakhstan are both founding members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, and that China is willing to improve and develop these two mechanisms with Kazakhstan.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war. President Xi will attend the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on May 9. According to Li Jianmin, President Xi's visit to Kazakhstan at such an important time has shown China’s willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation.