Kazakhstan, China mull key areas of cooperation
By Aynur Jafarova
Kazakhstan and China have discussed the key areas of cooperation in the trade, economic, investment, fuel and energy, transit, transport, cultural and humanitarian fields.
The discussions were held at a meeting of Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the
sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit
held in Dushanbe.
The sides also discussed cooperation between the two countries in
international and regional organizations, and exchanged views on
the topical issues on the international agenda.
The Kazakh president praised the level of cooperation between the
two countries.
"Our countries intensely cooperate in the fuel and energy sector.
Today, 20 percent of Kazakh oil is produced by Chinese companies.
Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline also operates
successfully," Nazarbayev noted.
The Chinese president, for his part, said his country is ready to
make every effort to ensure the continuous cooperation between the
two countries.
The Chinese - Kazakh relations have enjoyed rapid development since
the establishment of diplomatic relations. China is the largest
trading partner of Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan is China's second
largest trading partner in the CIS region after Russia.
The trade turnover between the two countries reached $22.5 billion in 2013, and this figure is 4 percent more compared to 2013.
Exports from Kazakhstan increased by 0.7 percent and amounted to $14.3 billion.