ASTANA – Kazakhstan and China reviewed their expanding partnership in industrialization and investment during the 21st meeting of the Kazakh-Chinese Coordinating Committee, held on Oct. 16 in Astana and co-chaired by Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Alibek Kuantyrov and Zhao Chenxin, Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
In a press statement released by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, Kuantyrov highlighted the unprecedented new level of Kazakh-Chinese relations, evidenced by mutual visits of heads of state, including Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Kazakhstan during the SCO Summit in July.
“… The Mechanism of dialogue on industrial and investment cooperation initiated ten years ago continues to play a special role in the new stage of the golden 30th anniversary of Kazakh-Chinese relations,” he said.
The Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of ongoing investment cooperation, with China ranking as a top source of direct investment into Kazakhstan. In the last year and a half alone, 117 commercial agreements worth over $42 billion have been signed between the countries. He noted that 100 joint investment projects are currently in progress, including 45 key projects valued at over $14.5 billion.
The meeting addressed joint projects in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, deep processing, finance, transport, aerospace, and IT. The parties agreed to continue working to enhance their industrial and investment cooperation.