Mr. Ambassador, what benefits and advantages do these relations bring to the peoples of the two countries?
Shakhrat Nuryshev: The history of our relationship has deep roots. For 30 years, a lot of work has been done, and we must pay tribute to the former leaders, who laid the foundations of bilateral relations. For the moment, we have no political contradictions, a very close political dialogue has been established between the Heads of State. Last year, trade turnover reached a record high – it exceeded thirty-one billion dollars, and we see that we have great prospects for its increase. We have very close contacts in the field of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, which have also been established over these 30 years.
In diplomacy, there are many degrees or levels of strategic partnership: in 2002, the treaty of friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation between the two countries was signed, then in 2013, strategic partnership relations were established, in 2019 – relations of eternal global strategic partnership.
There is a strategic interaction and a global partnership, there is a strategic partnership in all weathers, there is a global strategic partnership. But the term eternal comprehensive strategic partnership is typical only for Kazakh-Chinese relations. Neither Kazakhstan nor China has such a level of relations with other countries. It shows that we are close neighbours, we have an interest in our relations being friendly, good neighbours, stable and predictable. And in 2019, when these relations were established, the heads of state agreed that Kazakhstan and China would further develop good neighborliness and friendship. In this, of course, the diplomacy of heads of state plays a huge role – they are the same age, people of the same generation, of the same age, so they very easily find common ground, they immediately understand each other . Their conversations and negotiations always take place in a friendly atmosphere, which is a good basis for deepening bilateral relations.
In general, I want to say that relations between Kazakhstan and China are developing gradually, there are no contradictions or conflicting issues. We always find solutions – Kazakhstan and China have already resolved the border issue on a mutually beneficial basis. At one time, China, as a nuclear power, provided security guarantees to the Republic of Kazakhstan, this is also an indicator of a very high level of trusting relations.
The Chinese initiative cooperates closely with the Kazakh “Shining Path” initiative. What prospects await us?
Shakhrat Nuryshev: The Belt and Road Initiative was launched in Astana in 2013, when Chinese President Xi Jinping paid his first state visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan. China is a window of opportunity for us to develop cooperation with other Southeast Asian countries. We jointly implemented a project in the free economic zone “Khorgos – Eastern Gate”. Currently, more than 50% of container rail traffic on the China-Europe parallel passes through the territory of Kazakhstan. We have two railways that run through Kazakhstan to Europe, we see that the demand for rail container transport is increasing. Therefore, steps are being taken to increase the capacity of the railways that already exist on the territory of Kazakhstan, which will create additional channels for the transportation of goods not only between China and Europe, but also between China and Central Asian countries and Russia. Our national company “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy” is negotiating the establishment of a logistics center in the dry port of Xi’an. In addition to attracting foreign investment, we invest our money in improving the railway infrastructure, creating new jobs for the people of Kazakhstan, we want to further deepen our cooperation within the framework of the One Belt initiative, One Road and we hope that this cooperation will be mutually beneficial.
The China-Central Asia summit is currently taking place at the highest level. What do you expect from this event?
Shakhrat Nuryshev: The Central Asia Plus format has been around for a long time. At the ministerial level, we cooperate with the United States, Japan and South Korea; at the level of Heads of State, a mechanism for interaction with Russia and the European Union has recently been created. Now that the summit is being held in person, Heads of State will have the opportunity to meet in person. I hope that an agreement will be found to hold the summit on a regular basis. The progress of preparations for the upcoming event suggests that the format will be quite active. The main task of the summit is the beginning of a new stage of cooperation between the countries of Central Asia and China.
And I’m sure this format will be very effective, very productive, mutually beneficial, which is very important right now. I would like to emphasize that Central Asia acts as one region, there is no division into five states, it is one region that is ready to develop cooperation with China in the spirit of friendship and good neighbours, so we have very high expectations of this summit.
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