Kazakhstan will host the 2017 World Expo in its capital of Astana from June 10 to September 10. With the theme "Future Energy," the event provides another opportunity to strengthen ties with its old friend – China.
Kazakhstan was China's biggest trade partner along the ancient Silk Road 2,200 years ago, and the bond can still be felt today, in a different form.
The two countries are cooperating in new energy. The same electric buses that ferry people around Shanghai have started to run in Kazakhstan. A Chinese-Kazakh electric vehicle company and solar power firms have been established in Kazakhstan.
The logo for the 2017 World Expo in Kazakhstan. /www.expochina2017.org
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested a "Bright Road" initiative in 2014, calling for spending nine billion US dollars within three years on transportation, logistics, water and heating, public services and small and medium enterprises. It also encouraged more people-to-people exchanges with neighboring countries.
The country has sent more than 11,000 students to the Chinese mainland since 2013. Now 2,000 Kazakh financial management, law, medicine and IT students graduate each year from Chinese universities.
“Several years ago, no one would come to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). But now our students come here to learn TCM, chiropractic and herbal medicine. People have set up TCM centers all over Kazakhstan,” said Kyraubayev Zhoshykhan, Kazakh consul general in Shanghai.
Dimash Kudaibergen performs on a Chinese television show. /VCG Photo
Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen, 22, is one of the most popular overseas artists in the Chinese mainland, after winning second prize in a singing contest in China.
“Dimash isn't a phenomenon that popped up in one day. He was always there, and there're lots of other young people. After Dimash, we'd like to see more Kazakh singers and athletes come to China,” Zhoshykhan said.
The World Expo could help achieve this.
“We see a little gap here. Not many Kazakh people know about Chinese artists. Our two countries have huge potential. We will hold performances at the China Pavilion at the expo and enhance cultural exchanges,” said Li Yihai, secretary general of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Think Tank Foundation.
President Nazarbayev will attend the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on May 14 and 15, promoting cultural exchange events as the countries mark the China-Kazakhstan Tourism Year.
