Xi Jinping arrives in Kazakhstan for the 24th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and a state visit

President Xi Jinping arrived in Kazakhstan on Tuesday for a state visit and to attend the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

This is Xi Jinping's fifth visit to Kazakhstan and the second in less than two years, following his previous state visit in September 2022. This time, the visit is expected to bring renewed focus on the multifaceted aspects of bilateral relations and cooperation.

Calling the China-Kazakhstan partnership “unique,” Xi said upon his arrival here that the everlasting friendship between the two nations has grown stronger over time and set an example of solidarity, mutual benefit and mutual success among neighboring countries.

In a series of meetings scheduled with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Xi is expected to hold in-depth discussions aimed at further strengthening cooperation between the two countries. The focus of the talks is expected to cover trade and investment, infrastructure development, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

“The leaders of our countries have launched a new ‘30 golden years’ of cooperation between Kazakhstan and China,” said Gulnar Shaimergenova, director of the Kazakhstan Center for Chinese Studies, referring to a joint announcement by the two heads of state during Xi’s 2022 visit.

With Kazakhstan-China relations developing at a high level, it is believed that Xi's visit to Kazakhstan will open up new prospects for bilateral cooperation, she said.

During Tokayev's visit to China in 2019, the two countries agreed to upgrade their relations to a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. At a daily press briefing in Beijing on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Xi's visit this time is expected to further strengthen bilateral ties.

The deepening of mutual trust and political ties between China and Kazakhstan has been accompanied by remarkable growth in their trade and economic cooperation over the past three decades.

China was Kazakhstan’s top trading partner in 2023, with bilateral trade up 32% year-on-year to $41 billion. Kazakhstan’s main exports to China include crude oil, metals and agricultural products. In turn, China supplied Kazakhstan with machinery, electronics and consumer goods, according to Kazakh government data.

The Central Asian country has also become a key partner in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to strengthen connectivity and promote global prosperity through infrastructure development and trade and investment facilitation. Xi Jinping first proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative in Kazakhstan in 2013.

“It marked a magnificent chapter in the Belt and Road cooperation between our two countries. And the development of China-Kazakhstan relations has since entered a new stage,” Xi said in an article by Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper and Kazinform international news agency on Tuesday.

Since then, the two countries have made significant progress in strengthening connectivity and economic integration through various BRI projects.

Recently completed and commissioned projects include the Zhanatas Wind Farm, the Turgusun Hydroelectric Power Plant, and the modernization of the Shymkent Oil Refinery. These developments underscore the strong energy cooperation that fuels the development of both countries. The China-Kazakhstan oil and gas pipelines also operate with remarkable stability and security, ensuring a steady energy supply that is vital to both economies.

This dynamic partnership has also extended to transportation infrastructure, with key transportation and logistics hubs, such as the Xi'an Terminal, the Western Europe-Western China Expressway and the China-Europe Express Train, operating seamlessly.

BRI support for cross-border transport infrastructure has benefited Kazakh connectivity, according to a World Bank report titled “South Caucasus and Central Asia: Kazakhstan’s Belt and Road Initiative Case Study.”

For more than a decade, Kazakhstan has invested heavily to improve its own transportation network, but due to more limited improvements in trade facilitation and resource limitations in many neighboring countries, the gaps have been difficult to fill.

The BRI's focus on expanding transport infrastructure and economic integration, as well as China's efforts to more effectively connect its western and central regions with Europe and West Asia, provide opportunities to fill these gaps, the World Bank report said.

“Kazakhstan will probably be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the BRI,” he concludes.

At the same time, a consensus on deepening cultural and people-to-people exchanges is expected to be reached during Xi's visit. The two countries have long recognized the importance of fostering greater understanding and friendship between their peoples, with cultural exchanges being one of the cornerstones of their bilateral relations.

An agreement was signed between China and Kazakhstan on the mutual establishment of cultural centers. Chinese and Kazakh filmmakers co-produced the film “The Composer”, their first co-production. Bilateral cultural cooperation programs, including a Chinese university campus in Kazakhstan, a Luban workshop and a traditional Chinese medicine center, have been implemented.

Thanks to the mutual visa exemption agreements, a total of 600,000 cross-border trips were recorded in 2023. In the first quarter of this year, the number of visits in both directions reached 200,000 and is expected to hit a new record, according to official data from both sides.

In an exclusive written interview with Xinhua before Xi's arrival here, Tokayev stressed the importance of cultural and people-to-people communications between the two countries, as the opening ceremony of the “Kazakhstan Tourism Year” in China was held in Beijing in March.

“Cultural and people-to-people cooperation plays an important role in strengthening bilateral ties and promoting friendship between the peoples of our countries,” he said.