Better transport links between China and Kazakhstan vital, say both presidents

‍Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of better links between China and Kazakhstan on Thursday while visiting the Astana Expo 2017, an international exposition looking at the future of energy.

Accompanied by his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, the two heads of state toured the Expo and clearly demonstrated their focus on transport by "driving" a real-size high-speed rail simulation.

The two presidents continued to show the importance they placed on transport links as they later inspected via videolink the logistic center in China's eastern city of Lianyungang and a dry port in the city of Horgos, in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region bordering Kazakhstan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev visit a section of the Chinese national pavilion of the Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 8, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

Both cities are key hubs of the Europe-bound China Railway Express and the New Eurasian Land Bridge. In 2016, more than 1,200 trains transited through Kazakhstan, with rail freight handled by the two countries' railways reaching 8.2 million tons and the number of freight containers rising by more than two-fold.

In a statement, Xi said that China Railway Express trains transiting through the Central Asian country have benefited not only the two nations, but also countries along the Belt and Road.

Facilitating the transportation and creating more opportunities for cooperation, these trains have exemplified the fruits of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, both components of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Xi said.

He noted that as Kazakhstan is committed to aligning its economic plan of "Nurly Zhol," or "Bright Path" in the Kazakh language, with the Belt and Road Initiative, it has turned from a landlocked nation into a key hub for transportation in the Eurasian continent, and enhanced its role in the East-West trade link.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) invites his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev to experience simulated driving in a high-speed rail at the Chinese national pavilion of the Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 8, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

The Chinese leader urged concerted efforts of both countries to make the new Eurasia land and maritime routes linked by Lianyungang and Horgos pilot projects of the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to promote peace, prosperity, openness, innovation and exchanges of civilizations along these paths.

For his part, Nazarbayev thanked Xi for attending the Astana Expo, and said that Kazakh-Chinese cooperation on cross-border transportation is a successful case of linking the two countries' development strategies, bringing economic prosperity and social well-being to those countries along the Belt and Road.

(Based on a Xinhua story)

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