Chinese president arrives on state visit to Kazakhstan

ASTANA (Itar-Tass) - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday
arrived on a state visit to Kazakhstan. Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev welcomed him at the airport, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry
reported.
Hu Jintao will stay in the Central Asian republic till June 15. During
his stay there, the Chinese president will hold talks with the Kazakh
president, and with Prime Minister Karim Masimov. The visit is expected to
yield a number of bilateral documents.
On Wednesday, Hu Jintao will take part in a jubilee summit of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana.
In an interview with Kazinform news agency on Saturday, Hu Jintao said
he was "ready together with Kazakhstan's leaders to summarize the results
of the development of the Chinese-Kazakh relations over the past 20 years
and to draw a program for further development of strategic partnership
relations, to outline new goals and specify new tasks in all areas of
practical cooperation."
The Chinese president said that his visit will be crowned by "a joint
political document, and competent agencies and responsible business people
will sign a whole range of important documents of bilateral cooperation in
trade, economic, financial, environment-oriented, transport and
humanitarian sectors."
"China and Kazakhstan are good neighbours and important strategic
partners," said the Chinese leader. "The two countries are member states
of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The development of long-term,
stable and comprehensive relations of strategic partnership is what our
nations are interested in, as this meets real and long-term interests of
the two countries."
Touching on the current state and prospects for further development of
the Chinese-Kazakh relations, Hu Jintao noted that two countries "have
finally resolved outstanding border issues, signed a treaty on good
neighbourly relations, friendship and cooperation, drafted a strategy for
cooperation in the 21st century, set up an intergovernmental commission
for cooperation at the level of deputy prime ministers, and are
consolidating a legal base for comprehensive development of strategic
partnership."
According to the Chinese leader, trade turnover between China and
Kazakhstan in 2010 was 20.4 billion U.S. dollars, or 50 times as much as
in "the initial period of establishing diplomatic relations."
"The sides are offering mutual support in all issues related to vital
interests of each other and are building up fruitful cooperation in the
fight against such evils as drug trafficking and transborder organized
crime," he said.
"We maintain close coordination of positions and interaction with your
country in such multilateral structures as the United Nations, the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Conference on Interaction and
Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, etc. thus promoting peace, stability
and development of the region and the whole world in general," Hu Jintao
said.