On the evening of June 12, 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao left the Kazakh capital of Astana for home after concluding a state visit to Kazakhstan.
Hu started his Central Asia trip on June 9. He arrived in Tashkent on June 9, kicking off his state visit to Uzbekistan. During his visit, President Hu held talks with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov, exchanging extensive, in-depth views on bilateral ties as well as international and regional issues of common concern and reaching a lot of new consensus. The two leaders signed a joint statement on deepening and developing the friendly and cooperative partnership between China and Uzbekistan in a comprehensive manner.
Hu attended the 10th Meeting of the Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of States in Tashkent. At the summit, Hu delivered an important speech entitled Deepening Pragmatic Cooperation and Maintaining Peace and Stability.
In his speech, Hu put forward a series of proposals for intensifying cooperation within the SCO framework. First, consolidate solidarity and mutual trust and strengthen the political foundation for the SCO’s development. Second, step up anti-terrorism efforts and forge a secure environment for the SCO’s development. Third, tap potential of cooperation and maintain the sustainability of the SCO’s development. Fourth, expand friendly exchanges and consolidate the cultural foundation for the SCO’s development. Fifth, improve the SCO’s internal construction and decision-making mechanism. Sixth, pursue transparency and opening up and create a sound environment for the SCO’s development.
Hu finally noted in his speech that China will adhere to the mutually beneficial and win-win strategy of opening up and join hands with all countries to strengthen efforts of building lasting peace and common prosperity in the region.
From Tashkent, Hu flew into Astana on the evening of June 11 for his visit to Kazakhstan. In Astana, Hu held talks with his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, exchanging views on ways to advance the China-Kazakhstan relations and enhance pragmatic cooperation. They also discussed international and regional issues of common concern. Both sides reaffirmed that building China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership of equality and mutual trust, as a right historic decision, is of great significance to deepening all-round cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, enhancing the friendship between both peoples and maintaining regional security.
This is President Hu’s second visit to Kazakhstan in less than one year. He paid a working visit to the Central Asian country last December.