Chinese President Hu Jintao holds talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana

On December 12, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana. Both sides exchanged views on China-Kazakhstan relations as well as international and regional issues of common concern in a frank and in-depth manner and reached important consensus on pushing forward bilateral strategic partnership.

Hu pointed out that in recent years, bilateral ties have witnessed sustained, rapid and sound development thanks to the joint efforts of both sides. The strategic cooperation between the two countries has been continuously enhanced and enriched and their cooperation on economy, trade, energy, security and humanities has scored fruitful results. Both sides have cooperated closely within multilateral frameworks, including the United Nations (UN), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) and supported each other on a range of major issues concerning each other's core interests. Practice proves that sustained, rapid and sound development of China-Kazakhstan relations is in the common and long-term interest of both countries and their peoples and is also conducive to regional peace, stability and development. China is ready to join hands with Kazakhstan to build political trust, advance pragmatic cooperation in all areas and push bilateral strategic partnership to a new level.

Hu put forward a five-point proposal for the development of bilateral relations between China and Kazakhstan. Firstly, China and Kazakhstan should strengthen their political mutual trust by maintaining the momentum of frequent high-level contact and expanding cooperation and exchanges between parliaments and government departments, Hu said. He urged both sides to give further play to the role of China-Kazakhstan cooperation committee and offer guidance and coordination on issues related to bilateral ties in a timely manner. The Chinese president said the two sides should strengthen mutual support on major issues concerning each other's core interests so as to enhance mutual understanding and trust. Secondly, Hu said the two countries should deepen their cooperation in the energy sector, and earnestly implement the operation and maintenance of the China-Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline. The two countries should also strengthen cooperation in the mining sector, he said. Thirdly, China and Kazakhstan should advance their cooperation in non-resources sectors so as to push forward practical cooperation in an all-round manner. The Chinese president said the two countries should step up efforts in carrying out their cooperation plans in non-resources sectors and in promoting the implementation of the first batch of their cooperation projects. Hu also called for joint efforts from both sides in expanding the scale and improving the economic returns of their non-resources cooperation. Fourthly, the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in the financial sector, especially in such areas as loans and financing, financial supervision, risk prevention and anti-money laundering. He said the two sides should accelerate the implementation of agreements on the 10-billion-dollar loan China provided for Kazakhstan to create favorable conditions for their cooperation in energy, mining and non-resources sectors. Fifthly, Hu said the two sides should expand cooperation and exchanges in the fields of humanities and culture. He said China is ready to expand cooperation with Kazakhstan in such areas as science, technology, education, culture, sports and tourism. He welcomed more Kazak young people to study in China and announced a decision to increase from 100 to 200 the number of Kazakh students who study in China on Chinese government scholarships every year as of 2010. Relevant departments of the two countries should continue to cooperate closely to well run the Confucius Institutes and ensure the success of exchange of visits of cultural groups.

Nazarbayev extended warm welcome to Hu and fully agreed with Hu's five-point proposal on the development of bilateral ties. He said the Kazak side was satisfied with the development of the strategic partnership featuring good-neighborly friendship and mutual trust enjoyed by the two countries. China adopts the good-neighborly and friendly policy and has played an important role in promoting peace, security and development of Asia and the world at large. In particular, against the background of the global financial crisis, China has not only striven to maintain its own economic growth momentum, but also offered important financial support to Kazakhstan and help the country overcome the impact of the crisis, for which the Kazak side is thankful. Kazakhstan is ready to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China on trade, finance, infrastructure, energy and non-resources. He appreciated China's handling of the July 5 incident in Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as well as its efforts with Central Asian countries to strike against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism. China's efforts were necessary to maintain stability in Xinjiang, and were good for stability in Kazakhstan, he said. Kazakhstan is ready to enhance cooperation with China in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA).The president also thanked the Chinese government for increasing the number of Kazak students studying in China and said his country was ready to work with China to smoothly run the two Confucius Institutes in Kazakhstan.

Prior to the talks, the two leaders attended the completion ceremony of the China-Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline. Following the talks, the two heads of state attended a signing ceremony of relevant cooperation documents between the two countries and met the press.

On the evening of the same day, Hu Jintao attended a welcome banquet given by Nazarbayev in his honor.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the above-mentioned activities.