China and Kazakhstan join hands
Xi and Nazarbayev agree to bolster cooperation in a multitude of areas
China and Kazakhstan signed documents on Thursday to bolster cooperation in such areas as trade, finance, infrastructure construction and hydroelectric projects during President Xi Jinping’s ongoing state visit.
Xi and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev witnessed the signing of the agreements and memorandums of understanding amid the two countries’ efforts to connect the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative with Kazakhstan’s Bright Road new economic policies.
The Chinese president is on a four-day visit to Kazakhstan that started on Wednesday. A joint declaration was issued after the meeting between the two presidents.
During their talks, the presidents agreed to link Kazakhstan’s strategy of building an international logistics passage with China’s efforts to build the new Eurasia Continental Bridge — a rail link to Europe — as well as a corridor that links China with West Asia via Central Asia.
The two sides also agreed to connect China’s advantages in both land and maritime transportation with Kazakhstan’s need for access to maritime transportation.
Xi said the two countries’ political trust has reached an unprecedented high level. He added that the key to the rapid development of Sino-Kazakh relations has been that the two sides have adhered to the spirit of a friendly neighborhood, the principle of mutual respect and the view of joint development.
“The two nations should always be good neighbors, friends and partners,” Xi told reporters after the meeting.
Kazakhstan would like to deepen cooperation with China in areas such as transportation, production capacity, industrial parks, finance and agriculture under the Belt and Road framework, Nazarbayev said. He added that the Belt and Road Initiative is highly significant.
During their talks, the leaders agreed to maintain close high-level exchanges, respect each others’ efforts to safeguard their core interests, and jointly deal with challenges that may threaten regional safety and stability.
The two presidents also agreed to jointly build industrial parks, boost interconnectivity and deepen cooperation in areas like infrastructure, logistics, innovation, agriculture, forestry, finance, energy, science and environmental protection.
They pledged to maintain close communications on major global and regional issues; jointly fight terrorism, extremism and cross-border organized crime; and safeguard peace and stability.
The leaders spoke of the important role that the Shang- hai Cooperation Organization has played in international relations, and agreed to deepen cooperation in politics, security, trade and people-to-people exchanges within the SCO framework.
Xi praised the progress made during Kazakhstan’s SCO presidency, which began last year. China, which assumes the rotating leadership next, will
China and Afghanistan should deepen cooperation under the Belt and Road framework and push forward projects to connect the two countries more, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.
In a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Astana, Kazakhstan, at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Xi hailed the ties between the two nations.
The president said that high-level interaction should play an important role in guiding China-Afghan relations and that exchanges on all levels should be intensified.
China supports the Afghan government’s efforts to maintain its domestic security, Xi said, adding that China will continue to help Afghanistan’s reconstruction. The two countries should enhance anti-terrorism and security cooperation, he said.
Xi said that China firmly maintains a friendly policy toward Afghanistan. China would like to play a construct- ive role to support Afghanistan in conducting peaceful reconstruction and advancing reconciliation, he said.
Ghani expressed gratitude for China’s support of his country’s peaceful reconstruction and reconciliation process, saying that Afghanistan cherishes its friendship with China.
The Afghan president said his country values China’s important role in international and regional affairs, and is dedicated to cooperation with China in areas like the economy, trade and security.
Afghanistan also looks forward to connecting the country’s development with construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said, adding the country will participate with China to boost connections between the two nations.
Chen Yurong, a senior researcher in European and Asian studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said China has been dedicated to promoting Afghanistan’s reconciliation process by making use of the multilateral mechanism.
Afghanistan is along the corridor that links Central Asia with South Asia, and the geographic location provides huge potential for the two countries to cooperate on the Belt and Road Initiative, Chen said.
Sun Zhuangzhi, secretarygeneral of the SCO Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China and Afghanistan can strengthen cooperation on infrastructure construction under the Belt and Road Initiative’s framework.
Infrastructure in Afghanistan has collapsed under years of conflict, he said, and China can help Afghanistan rebuild its railways, highways and hydraulic engineering, and cooperate in mining, agriculture and investment.