China, Kazakhstan to enhance cooperation by implementing Silk Road initiative

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, Sept. 12, 2014. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

China and Kazakhstan on Friday vowed to beef up economic cooperation by jointly implementing the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.

The pledge was made during a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan.

China's initiative of building the Silk Road Economic Belt was put forward by Xi during his visit to Kazakhstan last fall.

Xi said infrastructure construction, economy and trade, energy, investment are the major areas for cooperation within the framework of Silk Road Economic Belt initiative.

Kazakhstan is an important cooperative partner of China, said Xi, adding that China is willing to work with the Central Asian country to push forward energy cooperation, including crude oil trade, development of gas fields, and equipment-manufacturing.

The Chinese president also urged the two sides to strengthen cooperation in law-enforcement and security so as to jointly fight against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

For his part, Nazarbayev said his country hopes to take the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt as an opportunity to expand cooperation with China in such fields as energy, two-way investment, processing and manufacturing industries, and cross-border transportation.

He also thanked China for emergency water supply to Kazakhstan to help alleviate drought in the country earlier this year.

Noting that it was his fourth meeting with Nazarbayev this year, Xi said the frequent high-level contacts between the two countries are highly indicative of the special nature of their comprehensive strategic partnership and bear great significance in guiding the future development of bilateral relations.

Noting that the SCO summit in Dushanbe was a great success, Xi said China and Kazakhstan should work together to push for unity and cooperation among the SCO members.

The SCO, founded in 2001, groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It also has Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as its observers, and Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey as dialogue partners.