Chinese, Kazakh presidents sign joint statement on ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday signed a joint statement between the two countries.

Both countries agreed to abide by the principles affirmed in bilateral cooperation documents over the past decades, including the Joint Statement Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Kazakhstan on the 30th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in September 2022.

The two sides agreed that China and Kazakhstan will further enhance their all-round cooperation, with bilateral cooperation embarking on a new "golden 30 years." Meanwhile, both sides engaged in a comprehensive, in-depth and candid conversation, exchanging views on international and regional issues of common concern.

According to the joint statement, both countries agree to give full play to the strategic leading role of head-of-state diplomacy and maintain high-level exchanges and contacts at all levels, pushing the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan to a higher level.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev offered his congratulations on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and expressed the belief that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the country will fulfill the goals and tasks outlined in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining political security. To this end, the two sides agreed to strengthen political mutual trust, firmly support each other's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, and firmly oppose the politicization of human rights issues and double standards.

Leaders of the two countries praised the pragmatic cooperation carried out by both sides to continuously promote the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has become an efficient and popular international cooperation platform.

Both sides are willing to further explore the potential for cooperation in fields like economy, trade and investment and jointly ensure the implementation of relevant cooperation projects between the two countries.

The two sides appreciated the record-high bilateral trade volume in 2023 and the efforts made by both countries. Both countries are willing to take practical measures to expand trade and promote trade facilitation, further deepen e-commerce cooperation and continue to advance "Single Window" interconnection to promote bilateral trade.

China was Kazakhstan's largest trading partner in 2023, with two-way trade up by 32 percent year-on-year to reach $41 billion. The two countries have set a new goal of doubling two-way trade at an early date.

Both countries stressed the importance of continuously deepening cooperation in scientific and technological innovation.

China and Kazakhstan support their aerospace institutions and enterprises in discussing the possibility of the commercial use of each other's space launch sites. The two sides also support their aerospace institutions and enterprises in communicating and cooperating in the peaceful use of outer space and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in fields including the moon and deep space, as well as the reception and exchange of remote sensing data, according to the joint statement.

The two sides are willing to advance cooperation in industry and information technology, share development experiences and strengthen collaboration in information technology, small and medium-sized enterprises, 5G, communications, data storage and analysis, energy electronics and talent training.

The two sides will take measures to ensure the long-term, safe and stable operation and planned supply of the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline and the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline passing through Kazakhstan while exploring the possibility of increasing the supply. They will continue to deepen cooperation in oil and natural gas exploration, mining and processing and further strengthen collaboration in clean energy sectors, such as wind power, photovoltaics and solar thermal energy.

Both countries emphasized their commitment to deepening people-to-people exchanges and fostering extensive dialogue among civilizations. They will strengthen cooperation in health, education, culture, tourism, archaeology, archives, sports, media and think tanks. Additionally, both sides plan to hold various innovative activities to expand youth exchanges and collaborate on joint archaeology, cultural heritage protection and restoration, museum exchanges, and the recovery and return of lost cultural relics.

Kazakhstan will support China as it assumes the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) following Kazakhstan, and both countries will jointly promote cooperation in various fields within the SCO framework.

China highly appreciates Kazakhstan's work as chair of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) from 2022 to 2024. Both sides reaffirm their commitment to jointly promoting CICA's upgrade to a full-fledged international organization.