BEIJING, July 3, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in
Kazakhstan on Tuesday for the 24th
Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and a state visit to Kazakhstan, the Xinhua News Agency
reported.
Observers said that the visit to Kazakhstan - the country where Xi made his
first foreign visit in 2022 since the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic and proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt, an essential
component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 -
underscores the rock-solid bilateral relationship and the high
level of political trust built between the two countries and led by
head-of-state diplomacy, and that the Central Asian region is of
significant importance to China's
foreign policy.
As this year marks the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between China
and Kazakhstan, the visit will
draw a blueprint for future bilateral and regional comprehensive
cooperation modes, analysts said, pointing to a wide range of areas
for further collaboration, such as jointly safeguarding regional
security and boosting connectivity, as well as facilitating
people-to-people exchanges under the SCO and BRI frameworks.
The flourishing ties between China and Kazakhstan, as well as the Central Asian
region, set a model for building a new type of international
relations championed by SCO cooperation, that is respect for
diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development,
discarding geopolitical thinking, observers said.
Xi said on Tuesday that China
and Kazakhstan have established a
unique permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. Xi made the
remarks in a written statement upon his arrival in capital
Astana.
Xi also hailed achievements of China-Kazakhstan cooperation in a signed article
published in Kazakh media on Tuesday. Xi said that he looks forward
to meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to plan the
way forward for closer China-Kazakhstan cooperation and draw a new
blueprint for further growth of bilateral relations and the
SCO.
Expectations running high
The Global Times noticed that hundreds of local residents were
waving the national flags of China
and Kazakhstan near the landmark
building Beijing Tower in Astana on Tuesday morning to extend a
warm welcome to Xi's arrival. "Warm welcome!" The crowds made up of
local residents, lined along both sides of the roads where the
motorcade will pass, and cheered excitedly in Chinese.
Local residents and scholars hold high expectations for the
visit, with some in particular highlighting the increased
connectivity between China and
Kazakhstan under the
BRI.
"The Silk Road was one of the most important logistical means
for transporting goods from Asia
to Europe. I believe this is a
sign of great cooperation between our countries and our neighbors,
and that is going to lead to the future economic growth of both of
our countries," a Kazakh college student named Konstantin told the
Global Times.
"China is one of the largest
countries in the world. Many Kazakhs travel to China and bring back a lot of useful
information and technology. I think cooperation with China is having a very positive impact on our
country," another Kazakh resident surnamed Salima told the Global
Times.
Observers said the visit underscores that strategic guidance by
the heads of state is a political advantage and a distinctive
feature of China-Kazakhstan relations. Those close interactions
at the highest level will "inject certainty and new impetus" into
the development of the Central
Asia and the world, against the backdrop of rising
geopolitical tensions.
"For both China and
Kazakhstan, it is important not
only to maintain but also to consistently enhance the positive
dynamic of our interaction, deepen the friendship between our
peoples, and contribute to regional peace and stability. We are
confident that the visit will lead to an even more productive and
mutually beneficial [relationship]," Aliya Mussabekova, chief
expert at the Asian Studies Department at Kazakhstan Institute for
Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of
Kazakhstan, told the Global Times
on Tuesday.
In 2013, Xi visited Kazakhstan
and proposed the idea of building an "economic belt along the Silk
Road", which, combined with the proposal of the 21st Century
Maritime Silk Road, eventually became the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI).
He visited the Central Asian country in 2017 and 2022 to boost
bilateral ties, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.
The two countries further advanced their relationship to a
permanent comprehensive strategic partnership in 2019 during Kazakh
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's state visit to China, reaching its historical high.
"Currently, China has
established strategic partnerships or comprehensive strategic
partnerships with many countries worldwide. However, defining the
China-Kazakhstan relationship as a permanent
comprehensive strategic partnership is unique… The definition is
objective, accurate, and reflects both sides' affirmation and
positive expectations toward our friendship," Zhang Xiao, Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, told the Global Times in an
exclusive interview.
China and Kazakhstan have been firm supporters of each
other on issues concerning their core interests, despite an
ever-changing international environment, which lays a solid
foundation for bilateral ties to continue developing to even
greater heights, according to analysts.
Kazakhstan has endorsed
multiple China-proposed
initiatives: the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security
Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative. The two
neighbors have also vowed to build a community of a shared future
for mankind.
Relations between China and
Kazakhstan are based on
deep-rooted shared visions, as both countries have a vision of
necessity to avoid further toxification of international relations,
as well as an urgency to return to normalcy in international ties
on the basis of mutual accommodation of legitimate interests of
every member of the international community, Bolat Nurgaliyev,
former SCO secretary-general, told the Global Times.
A model for cooperation
Kazakhstan is hosting the SCO
summit in Astana and has pledged to make every effort to enhance
the potential of the SCO, the Astana Times reported. After the
Astana summit, China will assume
the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025.
"One of the top items on the agenda at the SCO summit is to
maintain regional stability. China
and Kazakhstan could strengthen
security cooperation, resolutely fight against the 'three
evil forces' and guard against 'color revolutions' instigated by
external forces," Cui Heng, a
scholar from the Shanghai-based
China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and
Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Another area for cooperation is the economy, and China, as the largest economy in the SCO with
overarching trade ties with every member state, could play a
constructive role in collaboration with Kazakhstan.
According to Cui, on the economic front, China and Kazakhstan could jointly promote the
implementation of more regional infrastructure connectivity
projects, such as the launch of the highway section of the
Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as
the Middle Corridor, which could offer the most cost-effective
passage in Eurasia amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Bilateral cooperation under the BRI between China and Kazakhstan has been "setting trends" in
Eurasia, scholars said.
In 2023, trade between China
and Kazakhstan hit a record of
$41 billion, Xinhua reported,
accounting for nearly half China's
trade with Central Asia. Capacity
and investment cooperation have generated a project list with a
total value exceeding $21.2 billion.
Through industrial collaboration and a synergy between the
China-proposed BRI and
Kazakhstan's "Bright Road"
economic policy, Kazakhstan has
built itself into a key regional transportation center and a
crucial transit hub for China-Europe
freight trains, with 80 percent of the cargo shipped by the
flagship BRI project passing through the country.
Across Central Asia,
China's collaborations with the
other four regional countries have also been gaining momentum.
China's bilateral trade with
Tajikistan last year expanded 53.5
percent year-on-year to $3.93
billion, recording a new high, customs data showed. Chinese
leader, at the invitation of President Emomali Rahmon of the
Republic of Tajikistan, will also
pay a state visit to Tajikistan,
China's Foreign Ministry announced
on Sunday.
"China is willing to use the
SCO summit as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and
coordination with all five Central Asian countries, deepen mutually
beneficial cooperation and advocate for a fair multipolar world and
inclusive globalization," Zhang said, stressing that the
cooperation will continuously inject new energy into building a
closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.
Li Ziguo, a senior research fellow with the China Institute of
International Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that more
than 30 years of China-Central Asia cooperation has proven that
China is a constructive player in
the region. Whether through BRI projects or bilateral cooperation,
China has been dedicated to the
development of these countries without any geopolitical
requirements attached, Li added.
China has the industrial
capacity that Central Asian countries truly need for their
modernization, providing them with technologies and cost-effective
products that are highly competitive, analysts said.
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SOURCE Global Times