The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev in his four-day visit to China had talks with the Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, and witnessed the formalities of signing ten new pacts between both countries. The deals include co-operation in the fields of transport, agriculture, tele-communications, culture, education, health, tourism and sports.
Both countries have maintained steady link with each other through top level talks and exchanges ever since Nazarbayev assumed office in 1990. The countries have always extended their co-operation in all spheres within the multi-lateral frameworks of the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.
Nazarbayev is a known ally of China in issues related to the Tibet and Taiwan. Even before the meet, the Kazakh president had reiterated his support for China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Kazakhstan and China share a borderline of more than 1,700 km, and bilateral ties got a boost especially after a rail link was established in the early 1990 through the Allah Mountain pass. The China-Kazakhstan Good-Neighborly Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed in 2002 has also helped both parties to improve their relations and do away with all outstanding border issues.
The Chinese president suggested four-pronged formula to Nazarbayev during the talks to boost and expand both countries’ bilateral co-operation to all areas. The Kazakh president not only agreed to the formula but also commended China’s effort in tackling the global economic crisis. On the other hand, Hu expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for backing China on several occasions including issues related to Taiwan and Tibet, and while Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
The Kazakhstan–China oil pipeline is China’s first direct oil import pipeline and will be 3000 km long once completed. The first stage of the pipeline became operational since 2003 is the major economic co-operation achieved by both countries so far.