Kazakhstan, China hope for stronger relations.

22/2 Tass 97

BEIJING, February 22 (Itar-Tass) - Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbayev has begun an official visit to China to discuss with China's
authorities stronger bilateral cooperation.
He has already met with the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress of Chairpersons of China, Wu Bangguo. The two
sides expressed the hope that the visit will help to bring relations to a
higher level.
In the first half of the day Nazarbayev will take part in the
presentation of the project of the Astana-Almaty high-speed railway
construction. He will also meet with representatives of China's business
circles.
Later in the day Kazakhstan's president will hold talks with his
Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Weng Jiabao. Several
bilateral documents are expected to be signed.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaosui said the two countries'
presidents will discuss the ways to strengthen relations of strategic
partnership, expand business cooperation and step up interaction in
different areas. They are expected to exchange opinions on pressing issues
on the international and regional agenda.
This is Nazarbayev's fifteenth visit to China over 19 years of
Kazakhstan's independence. Over this period the two countries' trade
increased by thirteen times to reach 20.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.
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