Chinese, Kazakh FMs vow to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation

DUSHANBE - Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi here on Thursday, with both sides vowing to strengthen bilateral anti-pandemic cooperation.

Wang said that China and Kazakhstan have helped each other in their joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further enhanced the friendship between the two countries.

China is willing to work together with Kazakhstan to fully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and to take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries next year as an opportunity to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation as well as win-win cooperation in various fields so as to elevate the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, Wang said.

He said that the two sides should strengthen the alignment of their development strategies, speed up the negotiation and signing of intergovernmental economic and trade cooperation plans as well as the new version of the investment protection agreement, adequately implement the production capacity cooperation projects that both countries agreed upon, increase the number and improve the quality of China-Europe freight trains, and push forward bilateral cooperation in such fields as artificial intelligence, digital finance, cross-border e-commerce and green energy.

China, Wang said, welcomes Kazakhstan to actively participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics, supports Kazakhstan in successfully hosting the upcoming meeting of the Conference on Interaction & Confidence Building Measures in Asia Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and stands ready to work with Kazakhstan to jointly push for a smooth transition of the situation in Afghanistan, and promote regional security, stability and development.

The two sides should strengthen coordination in multilateral fields, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, defend international fairness and justice, and uphold the basic norms governing international relations, he added.

For his part, Tileuberdi said Kazakhstan attaches great importance to developing its relations with China, and is willing to maintain regular high-level exchanges and advance political dialogue at various levels with the Chinese side.

Tileuberdi thanked China for providing COVID-19 vaccines for Kazakhstan, and hoped to continue to promote anti-pandemic cooperation between the two countries.

Kazakhstan, he said, stands ready to work with China to seek greater synergy between the Bright Path economic policy and the Belt and Road Initiative, and deepen bilateral cooperation on "green channels" as well as on China-Europe freight trains, also known as "steel camel fleets."

Tileuberdi said Kazakhstan opposes conspiracy theories on COVID-19 origins, and supports China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics, expressing the belief that the event will be a success.

Kazakhstan supports China's positions on issues concerning Taiwan and human rights, and hopes to strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side on the Afghanistan issue, as well as deepen cooperation with China within such multilateral frameworks as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.