China and Kazakhstan can and will accomplish a great deal in bilateral cooperation in the years to come, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a signed article published in Kazakh media on Tuesday.

Xi left Beijing on Tuesday morning for the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana and state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan at the invitation of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.

"It was in Kazakhstan 11 years ago that I first proposed the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt, which was warmly received by people from different sectors in Kazakhstan," Xi said in the article, adding that it marked a magnificent chapter in Belt and Road cooperation between the two countries and that the development of China-Kazakhstan relations has since entered a new stage.

Xi said the two countries have rendered each other firm support on issues concerning their respective core interests and respect the development path that each has chosen according to their respective national conditions.

Last year, the two countries' two-way trade registered a record high of $41 billion, and China is now Kazakhstan's largest trading partner and its top export destination, he noted, adding that the potential for cooperation in new energy and transportation infrastructure has been unleashed.

Noting the two countries have always helped and learned from each other and witnessed a new upsurge in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Xi said bilateral programs for cultural cooperation, including a Chinese university campus in Kazakhstan, a Luban Workshop, and a center of traditional Chinese medicine, have been fully implemented.

"Thanks to our mutual visa-exemption arrangements, our people can visit each other as frequently as relatives do," he said, noting that 600,000 cross-border trips were recorded last year.

Xi expressed his hope that the visit will help renew the two countries' traditional friendship and deepen the all-round cooperation.

Staying committed to mutual benefit and win-win cooperation

He said China stands ready to promote greater synergy between Belt and Road cooperation and the economic policies under a just Kazakhstan at a faster pace and further open China's super-sized market to Kazakhstan to share the development opportunities.

Xi called on China and Kazakhstan to deepen cooperation in traditional sectors, including business, trade, industrial capacity, investment, energy, mining and agriculture, and enhance the efficiency of customs clearance at border ports.

The two countries should ensure the high-quality operation of the China-Europe Railway Express, advance the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, and make the network connecting the two countries more multidimensional, diverse and efficient, he said.

Strengthening public support for an everlasting friendship

Noting that a deeper and stronger China-Kazakhstan friendship is what the two peoples aspire to, Xi called for enhancing mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples through a diverse range of cultural and people-to-people exchange programs.

China welcomes joint education programs and joint research projects between Chinese and Kazakh higher education institutions, think tanks and research institutes and supports closer interactions between people from all sectors across Chinese and Kazakh societies, said Xi.

He called on both countries to encourage more twinning between provinces and cities and more cooperation in education, tourism, archaeology, arts and media to expand the depth and scope of China-Kazakhstan cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Providing positivity and certainty for world peace and stability

China stands ready to join hands with Kazakhstan in response to the significant changes taking place in the world, Xi said, urging efforts to foster new opportunities amid crises and open up new horizons on a shifting landscape.

He said China will work with Kazakhstan to uphold the international system, with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, act on true multilateralism and oppose hegemonism, power politics and bloc confrontation.