ENORMOUS POTENTIAL OF COOPERATION
Promoting bilateral cooperation is the focus of Xi's upcoming visit. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two presidents will sign and issue a joint statement, participate in a video link event on cross-border transportation and witness the signing of a series of deals in the areas of economy and trade, finance and water conservation.
Cooperation between the two countries has been blossoming over the past three years and reached an unprecedentedly high level, covering multiple areas such as trade, energy, infrastructure and environmental protection, amid efforts to integrate China's Belt and Road Initiative with Kazakhstan's Bright Path Economic Plan.
Kazakhstan is among the earliest to join China in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative. In late 2014, China and Kazakhstan reached a preliminary consensus on industrial capacity cooperation worth more than 14 billion U.S. dollars. In march 2015, the two countries signed 33 deals in this field totaling 23.6 billion dollars, covering steel, non-ferrous metals, sheet glass, oil refining, hydro-power and automobiles.
"China and Kazakhstan have set a successful example with regard to cooperation in the areas of industrial capacity, energy and connectivity," said Sun Zhuangzhi, secretary general of the SCO Research Center affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He added that further enhancing cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative by the two countries will serve as a convincing role model to other interested countries.
Agricultural cooperation has become another key area for bilateral cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, experts said. According to Izimov, China and Kazakhstan are currently carrying out more than 20 joint agricultural projects in a bid to expand cooperation in this field.
"Kazakhstan has vast arable land and well-conditioned prairies. It is feasible to stimulate productivity in its farming and animal husbandry via cooperation between the two countries, while China is also ready to open its market to high-quality agricultural exports from Kazakhstan," Zhang said.
In addition, people-to-people exchanges could also be a highlight of bilateral cooperation in the future. With deepening understanding of the significance of China-Kazakhstan relations, an increasing number of Kazakh citizens from all walks of life start to show greater interest in learning about China, which provides huge potential for cooperation in this area.
While Kazakhstan is hosting the Year of China Tourism event, Zhang suggested the two countries take this opportunity to strengthen their cultural and people-to-people cooperation, including opening more air routes to promote tourism.
"Connections between Chinese people and Kazakh people lay the foundation for the development of bilateral ties and the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative," Zhang said.
