Before the departure of the Chinese plane, Tokayev had already regarded the Chinese visit's visit as a top priority. On this occasion, he not only specially accepted an exclusive interview with the Chinese media, but also planned to personally discuss three important matters with the visiting Chinese side in Chinese.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Recently, a high-level Chinese plane has just departed for a state visit to Kazakhstan and will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
It is worth noting that this is the fifth visit of the Chinese side to Kazakhstan. During this visit, the Chinese side will hold a bilateral meeting with Tokayev to fully exchange views on bilateral relations and cooperation, as well as some international and regional issues of common concern. Among them, there are three major matters that Tokayev wants to personally discuss with the Chinese side.
The first important thing that the Kazakh side wants to talk about is to further deepen political mutual trust between the two countries. It is no exaggeration to say that China's current visit has fully demonstrated the special and important position of Sino-Kazakh relations in China's foreign policy. On this basis, the leaders of the two countries will continue to maintain their traditional friendship, deepen their political mutual trust, and create conditions for building a community with a shared future that supports each other and shares a common future for generations to come.
Second, the development of practical cooperation between the two countries was also a key topic of the China-Kazakhstan meeting. Today, China has long been Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. In the first five months of this year alone, bilateral trade between the two countries reached $17.62 billion, up 18% year-on-year. The two countries are engaged in in-depth cooperation in various fields of traditional and emerging industries, and the development prospects are quite broad.
At the same time, the preferential visa policy and the successful implementation of the "Luban Workshop" project have further consolidated the good foundation of the relations between the two countries. On the basis of jointly practicing the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, China and Kazakhstan are making the initiative of global development, global security and global civilization a reality step by step, and making greater "China-Kazakhstan contributions" to building a fair and reasonable global governance system.
Tokayev inspects the "Luban Workshop"
The third major event to be discussed between the two sides is the SCO summit. As the organizer of the SCO summit, Kazakhstan naturally welcomes China's visit. After the meeting, China will soon take over the SCO presidency, which will require a good alignment between the two sides.
As a matter of fact, Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the Chinese visit. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave an exclusive interview to the Chinese media before greeting the Chinese high-level officials. Tokayev said that Sino-Kazakh relations are built on the basis of solid friendship and good-neighborly relations, and the Kazakh side is eagerly looking forward to China's visit.
Tokayev said that during China's visit to Kazakhstan in 2022, the two heads of state jointly opened a new "golden 30 years" of bilateral cooperation. He believed that the Chinese side's visit would further promote the development of bilateral relations and open a new chapter in Sino-Kazakh cooperation. Tokayev was full of praise for the great opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative to both sides.
In the interview, Tokayev also specifically mentioned that in some cases, in order to more accurately convey his thoughts or discuss interesting things in daily life, he will choose to talk to the Chinese side in Chinese; At the same time, he stressed that the high-level personal relations between the two countries have also made important contributions to deepening bilateral cooperation.
In fact, in the diplomacy of the head of state, Tokayev's remarks have a special significance. This is not only a show of sincerity to the Chinese side, but also reveals Tokayev's special experience. Before becoming president of Kazakhstan, Tokeyev studied in China and worked as a diplomat, where he studied and lived for almost eight years.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Tokayev
As a result, he is one of the few foreign leaders today who can speak Chinese fluently. At the same time, Tokayev has said more than once that he likes the Chinese people and traditional culture very much, and even said that his time in China was "the most precious time" in his life. Tokayev's deep ties with China have become a unique advantage for Kazakhstan in its dealings with China.
Of course, in addition to Tokayev, people from all walks of life in Kazakhstan are also looking forward to the visit of the Chinese side. Kazakh Ambassador to China Nuryshev said in an interview that China and Kazakhstan have established a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, which shows a high degree of mutual trust between the two countries. The Chinese side's visit will undoubtedly bring new vitality to the relations between the two countries.
The director of a research center in Kazakhstan revealed that they release the "China Perception Index" every year, and the survey found that the Kazakh people's favorability towards China is increasing every year, which indirectly proves the friendly relations between the Chinese and Kazakh people. It is worth mentioning that this year is also the Year of Tourism between China and Kazakhstan, and coupled with the visa-free agreement that has already been adopted, the communication between the people of the two countries is becoming extremely convenient.
As a matter of fact, in recent years, China and Kazakhstan have had very close exchanges. This is China's fifth visit to Kazakhstan. Tokayev himself has already visited China three times between May last year and March this year.
It is not difficult to see from such frequent exchange of visits that the two heads of state have very friendly and close relations, which has also injected a strong impetus into the development of bilateral relations and provided a good opportunity for the realization of each other's grand goals.
The Chinese people warmly welcomed Tokayev's visit to China
However, this is not the entire itinerary of the Chinese visit. After concluding its visit to Kazakhstan, the Chinese side will also visit Tajikistan upon invitation, which will also be China's second state visit to Tajikistan after five years. During the visit, the two heads of state will also fully exchange views on bilateral relations and international affairs, and deepen bilateral relations.
Generally speaking, it is not difficult to see from the number of high-level meetings between China and Kazakhstan in recent years that China-Kazakhstan relations have reached a new level. Tokayev has also expressed his importance to China again and again with concrete actions. On this occasion, China's visit will inevitably bring new opportunities to the relations between the two countries.
At the same time, it can be seen from the itinerary that China's visit is not only focused on Kazakhstan, but also includes Tajikistan and even the entire Central Asian region. At this time, China's layout in Central Asia is also playing a role step by step.