Hu's visit to Kazakhstan opens new chapter in bilateral ties: ambassador
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President Hu Jintao's visit to Kazakhstan will open a new chapter in the development of China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership, says the Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan.
Hu will pay a state visit to the central Asian country on Friday and Saturday at the invitation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In recent years, China-Kazakhstan relations have maintained a good momentum of sound development which is featured by a few characteristics, Ambassador Zhou Li said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
First, leaders of the two countries have met frequently and have established and maintained a good working relationship and personal friendship.
Hu's upcoming state visit to Kazakhstan is his fifth visit to the country as Chinese president. He paid a working visit to the country in December. Hu met with Nazarbayev at the Nuclear Security Summit in April in Washington and during the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War over Nazi Germany in Moscow.
Leaders of the two countries have frequently exchanged views on bilateral relations, regional situation and other issues of common concern, which has contributed to enhancing the strategic cooperation between the two sides.
Second, China and Kazakhstan have continuously enhanced their political mutual trust. The two sides strictly abide by the China-Kazakhstan Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and have supported each other on issues concerning their core interests.
Kazakhstan has supported the Chinese government on issues concerning Taiwan and Tibet for a long time.
China speaks highly of Kazakhstan's constitutional reform and believes it will contribute to the country's sustainable and stable development.
The two countries oppose any attempts and actions aiming at undermining their national unity and sovereignty integrity, and will continue to strengthen cooperation to protect their national security, strike against the "three evil forces," transnational crimes and drug trafficking.
Third, the two economies are strongly complimentary to each other. And pragmatic cooperation of the two countries have been developed in an all-around way.
Trade volume between Kazakhstan and China reached 17.55 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 and slipped to 14 billion dollars in 2009 due to the international financial crisis. But the bilateral trade staged a strong recovery in the first quarter this year.
Meanwhile, bilateral cooperation has also expanded to the fields of energy, telecommunication, transportation and infrastructure construction.
Fourth, the two countries have increased people-to-people and cultural exchanges. The two have sent many art groups to each other's nations. The two Confucius Institutes in Kazakhstan have taught Chinese to more than 3,000 people in the central Asian country, which has greatly contributed to the cultural exchanges of the two countries.
Fifth, China and Kazakhstan have deepened strategic coordination on international and regional affairs.
The two sides have carried out fruitful cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
They also have cooperated on international and regional issues, which has contributed to maintaining world and regional peace, stability and development.
Hu's visit to Kazakhstan will deepen political mutual trust, promote development of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields and bring a broad prospect for China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership, Zhou said.
