China, Kazakhstan lift ties
▶ To develop cooperation with Huawei on 5G network
China and Kazakhstan agreed on Wednesday to forge a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership.
The announcement came after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Tokayev is paying a state visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday.
Aside from his meeting with Xi, he will probably visit Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to discuss the possible introduction of the company’s business into Kazakhstan, which has drafted a 2019-25 e-commercial development plan aimed at introducing more well-known e-commerce platforms into the country, China News Service reported Tuesday.
China and Kazakhstan could deepen their cooperation in finance, energy, agriculture, transportation, logistics and high-tech under the Belt and Road Initiative to “revitalize the glory of the Silk Road,” Tokayev said at the opening ceremony of a meeting of China-Kazakhstan Entrepreneurs Committee (CKEC) on Wednesday.
Kazakhstan is interested in expanding agricultural exports to China and serving as a supplier for oilseed crops such as soybeans, Tokayev said. Officials noted at the meeting that the Kazakh government is scaling up efforts to boost its agricultural exports as a key economic growth driver.
China-Kazakhstan ties have set an example for relationships between countries, Tokayev said in a speech on Wednesday morning at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He stressed that the two countries’ friendship is unshakable in the face of global challenges caused by the uneven development and trade war, which, if continues, would lead to a global crisis.
Tokayev’s visit will inject new energy to the two sides’ cooperation, Zhang Shenfeng, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said at the CKEC meeting.
As a vital member of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia, trade between China and Kazakhstan reached $19.8 billion in 2018, up 10.4 percent year-on-year, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Officials said at the meeting that leading Kazakh telecom service provider will cooperate with Chinese tech company Huawei to begin 5G network tests in Kazakhstan by the end of 2019.
Chinese experts suggested Chinese entrepreneurs should also invest in the country’s high-tech industry.
“Facial recognition-based security systems and artificial intelligencepowered medical technologies are the two areas of great potential in Central Asian countries. Chinese firms have a competitive edge in these areas,” said Mo Yanping, CEO of China-Eurasia Economic Cooperation Fund at CKEC meeting.