Special Report: President Hu visits two nations, attends SCO summit   

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on Aug. 18, 2007. (Xinhua Photo/Lan Hongguang) Photo Gallery>>>

    ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Kazakhstan on Saturday signed a joint communique on relations and trade promotion between the two countries as well as international issues of common concern.

    The communique was inked on the occasion of Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the central Asian country at the invitation of his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev after he attended the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek and observed a joint anti-terrorism drill staged by six SCO member states in Russia's Chelyabinsk.

    BILATERAL RELATIONS

    Since the China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership was established two years ago, cooperation between the two countries has witnessed rapid development, which brought practical benefits to the two peoples, the communique said.

    Both sides agreed to maintain the momentum of exchange of high-level visits and hold consultations as well as negotiations on bilateral relations and international issues.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev inspect an honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on Aug. 18, 2007. (Xinhua Photo/Rao Aimin) Photo Gallery>>>

    China and Kazakhstan pledged in the communique to step up exchanges between the two countries' parliaments, carry out multilevel friendly exchanges and cooperation, and try to improve the legal basis of bilateral cooperation.

    The two countries noted in the communique that their cooperation in the security sector is not directed against any third country. China and Kazakhstan will continue to maintain the current momentum of development in such areas as safeguarding national security, cracking down on the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and combating transnational crimes and drug trafficking, the communique said.

    The two presidents agreed to take effective measures within the framework of the SCO to guard and fight the "three evil forces" and vowed to boost cooperation in disaster prevention and reduction.

    On the Taiwan issue, the Kazakh government reiterated its steadfastness in upholding the one-China policy and throws its support behind China for all efforts it has made to realize national reunification, recognizing that the Taiwan issue is China's internal affair.

    The two sides also pledged to take measures and create necessary conditions for regulating the exchange of personnel between the two countries. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation in fighting illegal immigration.

    Both countries agreed to promote their exchange and cooperation in the sector of trans-border rivers. The two sides vowed to exploit and utilize the waters of the trans-border rivers in line with the principle of fair and reasonable development.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (2nd L) meets with Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov (1st R) in Astana, Kazakhstan, August 18, 2007. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan) Photo Gallery>>>

    INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

    The two sides will strengthen coordination on international and regional issues, deepen strategic cooperation, and promote a favorable international environment for the development of both countries, the communique stated.

    The two countries agreed that reforms of the United Nations (U.N.) should be conducted on the basis of the broadest consensus of most U.N. member countries, and need strengthened coordination among all member states.

    The two leaders reiterated to further consolidate the nuclear non-proliferation mechanism, urging all nations to comprehensively abide by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540, which seeks to impose binding obligations on all states to take measures against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

    Developing multilateral coordination within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) framework is one of the priorities of the foreign policies of both China and Kazakhstan, the two sides said.

    The two countries shared the view that SCO member states should take it as the priority of their work to conduct concrete cooperation in the field of security, economy, social affairs and humanitarianism, so as to benefit their peoples.

    Both support the development of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, and have pledged to take joint efforts to maintain peace, security and stability in Asia, according to the communique.

    TRADE PROMOTION

    The two sides would give more convenience to each other's trade and investment activities according to their respective laws and would adopt effective measures to protect the safety, property and legitimate rights of each other's citizens.

    Both sides were satisfied with the rapid development of bilateral trade, pledging to strike a balance between import and export. They would also make concerted efforts to help the annual bilateral trade volume reach 15 billion U.S. dollars by 2015.

    The two nations would offer help to their respective economic entities in carrying out Phase II project of the China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline, China-Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline project and the petrochemical complex project. They would launch cooperation in the deep-processing of oil and gas.

    In the communique, the two countries agreed to continue the transition from implementing large-scale oil and gas projects to conducting major cooperation in non-resource field, especially the areas of oil and gas machinery manufacturing, food industry, textile industry, transportation, logistic service, metallurgy, construction materials and tourism.

    The two sides will create conditions of equality and convenience for their banks to conduct businesses on each other's territories so as to help them forge an even closer strategic partnership.

    They also vowed to give the full play to their transit transportation capability, build up ports capacity and promote the construction of the international transportation corridor, so as to secure the transportation of Euro-Asian goods on the territories of both countries.

    The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in such fields as culture, humanitarianism, archaeology, TV broadcasting and sports.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in the Kazakh capital of Astana late Friday for a state visit to the central Asian country.

    During his two-day visit, Hu held formal talks with President Nazarbayev and also met Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov and Speaker of the Upper House of the Kazakh Parliament Kasymzhomart Tokaev.