12.09.2023
Correspondents of the People’s Daily newspaper Wang Xinping, Wang Yunsong, Zhang Xiaodong
10 years ago, in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, Chinese President Xi Jinping made an important speech, proposing to jointly build the “Silk Road Economic Belt.” The idea of the head of China received a warm response from broad sections of Kazakhstani society. Over the past 10 years, with the personal support and joint leadership of the leaders of the two states, China and Kazakhstan have successfully implemented several dozen large joint projects that have benefited the people of both countries and contributed to their common development.
The concept of joint construction of “One Belt, One Road” covers many areas and opens up broad prospects for strengthening Chinese-Kazakh cooperation in various fields. In November 2014, Kazakhstan put forward a new economic policy, Nurly Zhol (Path to the Future), which largely overlaps with China’s One Belt, One Road initiative. The programs coincide and complement each other.
China and Kazakhstan continuously strengthen strategic cooperation, deepen political consultations, which expands the space for mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in many areas, including infrastructure, investment and trade, industry and transport, and humanitarian exchanges, promoting common prosperity.
On the vast plains White wind turbines of a wind power plant rise in the Kostanay region of Kazakhstan. “Ybyrai” with a capacity of 50 MW, built with the participation of the Chinese company Universal Energy. In the 7 years since entering the Kazakhstan market, Universal Energy has become one of the largest local suppliers of environmentally friendly energy, having implemented 6 projects using renewable energy sources (RES) with a total capacity of 380 MW, including solar and wind power plants. These facilities generated a total of 1.41 billion kWh of green electricity, reducing CO2 emissions by 1.41 million tons. At the peak of the projects’ construction, 3,000 jobs were created for local residents.
Electricity production in Kazakhstan has traditionally been based on coal. In recent years, with the global energy transition, Kazakhstan’s demand for clean energy has been increasing. Renewable energy projects such as the Zhanatas wind power plant, the Turgusun hydroelectric power station and the wind farm in the Akmola region, invested and implemented by Chinese companies, are making a real contribution to promoting the low-carbon transformation of the electricity sector in Kazakhstan.
According to the Kazakh branch of the Chinese energy company China Power International Development Limited, at the end of 2022, the total installed capacity of projects using renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan, in which Chinese enterprises took part, exceeded 1000 MW.
The successful cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in the field of renewable energy is a striking example of the achievements of the two countries during the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. China and Kazakhstan have created mechanisms for dialogue on production capacity and investment, established a special fund for cooperation in the field of production capacity, contributing to the rapid development of cooperation in this area. Major strategic projects such as the construction of a production line for the Chinese automaker JAC Motors and the modernization of the Shymkent oil refinery give a powerful impetus to the socio-economic development of Kazakhstan, bringing real benefits to the peoples of the two countries.
China And Kazakhstan connected general mountains and rivers, their economic structures complement each other perfectly. According to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, in 2022 the trade turnover between China and Kazakhstan reached 31.17 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.6% compared to the previous year. Kazakhstan became the second country to open the National Pavilion on the international electronic platform Alibaba, on which more than 200 Kazakh enterprises have already registered. High-quality agricultural products of Kazakhstan, including honey and juices, are in demand and appreciated by Chinese consumers.
Many projects have been successfully implemented, namely the Chinese-Kazakh International center of the border cooperation Khorgos, China-Kazakhstan Logistics Cooperation Base in Lianyungang and dry special port economic zones “Khorgos-Eastern Gate”, which significantly strengthened the interconnectedness of China and Kazakhstan and stimulated their cooperation in the field of logistics. According to statistics, in 2022, rail freight turnover between China and Kazakhstan reached a record 23 million tons.
As the diplomat noted Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Bulegenov, trade and economic cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has unique advantages and enormous potential. The joint construction of “One Belt, One Road” has promoted the development of Kazakhstan’s infrastructure, especially road and rail transit between China and Kazakhstan, as well as international multimodal transport, laying an important foundation for accelerating Kazakhstan’s development and expanding bilateral cooperation in various fields. According to Bakytzhan Bulegenov, the initiative also paved the way for overall development and prosperity.
Main V relationships between countries — spiritual closeness and feeling sympathy between peoples. In recent years, interest in studying the Chinese language and Chinese culture has been continuously growing in Kazakhstan. Currently, there are 5 Confucius Institutes in the country, where more than 3,000 people study Chinese every year. The Chinese language has become one of the most popular specialties at universities in Kazakhstan, and China has become one of the most attractive destinations for higher education for Kazakhstanis.
In the near future, China and Kazakhstan will mutually open cultural centers. A Center for Traditional Medicine and a Lu Ban workshop will be created in Kazakhstan . Cooperation between the two states will continue to continuously deepen in the fields of education, science, art, sports, tourism, publishing, radio, television, online audiovisual content development and film production. As part of the joint construction of “One Belt, One Road,” Chinese-Kazakh humanitarian cooperation is steadily expanding, and the foundations of friendship between peoples are continuously strengthening.
Source: “People’s Daily” online http://www.people.com.cn/
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