On April 24, 2023, the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan hosted a meeting with experts from one of the authoritative think tanks of the PRC – the Chinese Academy of Contemporary International Relations.
Welcoming the guests, the director of KazISS Yerkin Tukumov told about the modernization carried out in our republic. «Kazakhstan is now living through a crucial stage of development. Important political reforms have taken place. Serious, breakthrough economic reforms are happening. In this regard, China can play a key role in the modernization of the economy. We look forward to multilateral, multifaceted cooperation. As it should be between our neighbors, good friends,» Tukumov said, and, taking the opportunity, invited the experts of the CICIR to the Central Asian Forum on Security and Cooperation «Asia in the Changing World: Agenda for the Future», organized by the KazISS jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RK on July 13-14, 2023 in Astana.
In turn, Director of the CICIR Institute of Eurasian Studies Ding Xiaoxing thanked his Kazakhstani colleagues for the invitation and congratulated them on the 30th anniversary of the Institute. «KazISS is one of the prestigious think tanks not only in Kazakhstan, but also in Central Asia. As KazISS is a «long-time friend» for CICIR, so Kazakhstan is an important strategic partner for China. The Chinese side supports the ideas and initiatives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev in carrying out reforms to modernize the country’s political system,» said Mr. Ding Xiaoxing.
In addition, during the conversation, the sides exchanged views on building up the Kazakh-Chinese comprehensive strategic partnership, and also discussed the regional situation and achievements of Kazakh-Chinese cooperation over the past 10 years within the framework of the «One Belt One Road» initiative.
Thus, the director of the KazISS Yerkin Tukumov drew attention to the positive dynamics of the growth of bilateral relations and the prospects for further cooperation between Kazakhstan and China. «China has been one of Kazakhstan’s largest trading partners for many years. Kazakhstan, in turn, is China’s largest trading partner in Central Asia. Today we can confidently speak about the high dynamics of bilateral cooperation in the spirit of trust, good-neighborliness and mutual understanding. The most important role in the development of our long–term cooperation is played, of course, by a constructive open dialogue at the level of heads of state,» Y. Tukumov said.
«In recent years, many positive results have been achieved in cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in the trade, economic, energy and humanitarian spheres. The two countries should continue to strengthen comprehensive cooperation in promoting the construction of the Belt and Road. We see that relations between the Central Asian countries have been developing dynamically recently. On the part of China, we support this trend. Kazakhstan occupies an important place in logistics from China to Central Asia and is one of the key links in Trans-Eurasian routes. I think there is a huge potential for cooperation between Kazakhstan and China, which has not yet been fully disclosed,» Mr. Ding Xiaoxing added.
The head of the KazISS agreed with his Chinese colleague about the huge potential of cooperation and expressed the need to increase the effectiveness of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, petrochemistry, agriculture and tourism. «The level of economic diversification that has developed in China will be interesting for us as well. It is not by chance that Kazakhstan has begun political transformations, because they will prepare the ground for economic modernization and economic transformation. There is a great investment potential in agriculture, because we want to strengthen our role in ensuring food security. In addition, our country has a large reserve of natural resources, but we want to diversify the economy and move away from its raw materials orientation. Therefore, we set a goal to ensure the inflow of foreign capital into industrial projects using Kazakhstani raw materials,» he said.
In general, the participants of the meeting outlined a number of key areas that can significantly strengthen mutually beneficial and productive cooperation between the countries, including the expansion of the trade and economic potential of Kazakhstan with China. In addition, the parties agreed to further strengthen cooperation between KazISS and CICIR.
