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| China, Kazakhstan forge closer ties |
| CCTV.COM 2003-06-04 09:06:21 |
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Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, have signed a joint declaration to lay the foundation for closer ties between the two countries. The deal was inked Tuesday in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan and China both belong to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The security grouping will hold its first joint anti－terrorism exercises in Kazakhstan in August.
During the talks, Hu Jintao said China attached great importance to links with Kazakhstan. He said the good relations between the two countries was crucial to stability in Central Asia. The Chinese President also came up with a four－point plan to boost the ties with its Northwest neighbor.
The first aspect involves building greater mutual trust between the two countries by promoting high level contacts and visits by heads of state.
Secondly, the two countries should expand trade ties especially in the energy sector.
The third point is to improve civil exchanges in education, culture, science and technology.
The final proposal is to promote cooperation on international issues within the framework of the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
These proposals were accepted by Nazarbayev. He says friendly relations between China and Kazakhstan are in the interests of both peoples. And the two countries share much common ground.
The issue of SARS also surfaced during the talks. Hu Jintao thanked Kazakhstan for its support during the outbreak and promised China would prevent the epidemic from spreading across the border.
After the talks, a declaration was signed by the two leaders.
The declaration outlines Kazakhstan's commitment to the One China principle and the concept that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. Kazakstan says it will not establish any official relations with Taiwan.
Both sides agree to coordinate efforts to combat terrorism including the separatist activity of the East Turkistan movement.
The agreement also promotes cooperation in energy, natural gas and oil exploration.
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Editor: Xiao Wei CCTV.com
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