On December 8, 2012, China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee held its sixth meeting in Astana. The meeting was co-chaired by the Chairs of the Committee, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Deputy Prime Minister Kairat Kelimbetov.
Wang Qishan said that this year is a significant year in the history of Sino-Kazak relations for the two countries just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties; President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid a successful visit to China; the regular prime ministers' meeting mechanism was officially launched.
Wang pointed out that China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee, as an all-round and high-level platform for cooperation between the two governments, has played an important role in promoting bilateral relations. Since the last meeting of the Committee, Sino-Kazak cooperation has shown a strong momentum and achieved productive results. China has become the second largest trading partner, the second largest importer and the largest export market for Kazakhstan. Over 50 million tons of crude oil was transported through Sino-Kazak crude oil pipeline on an accumulative basis. The second phase of Sino-Kazak natural gas pipeline has entered the construction phase. The cooperation in the development and trade of natural uranium has been steadily pushed forward. The International Centre of Boundary Cooperation (ICBC) Horgos has achieved closed operation. Financial cooperation including bilateral currency swap and big project financing has been expanding. The cross-border railway between China and Kazakhstan has been successfully joined and there are direct trains between the two capitals. The Friendship Water Diversion project on Horgos River is progressing well. The two sides have carried out close cooperation in the fight against the "three forces" and security guarantee for major events. The cooperation in the field of science & technology, mining, culture and people-to-people exchange continued to expand.
Wang put forward several suggestions on the next-step work of China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee: first, to deepen energy cooperation, ensure the smooth construction of Sino-Kazak crude oil pipeline phase-II and the natural gas pipeline project, expand the trade of natural uranium and explore cooperation opportunities for new energies; second, to expand inter-connectivity, push forward the construction of Horgos-Ah Teng Corey railway port and speed up the construction of the Transit Corridor "Western China – Western Europe"; third, to further strengthen cooperation in non-resource areas, optimize trade structure, expand mutual investment, enhance the implementation of the agreed non-resource cooperation projects and promote the settlement of general trade in local currencies; fourth, to continue to advance cooperation in science & technology, mining, culture and people-to-people exchanges and establish a long-term mechanism for scientific and technological cooperation; fifth, to consolidate security cooperation and continue to work together to combat the "three forces" including the "East Turkistan" splitting forces.
Kairat Kelimbetov expressed appreciation to China for the strong support given to Kazakhstan after the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008 as well as the help to Kazakhstan for its successful bid to host the 2017 World Expo, which fully shows the good relations and a high level of mutual trust between the two countries. The 6th meeting of China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee has yielded fruitful results. Both sides are confident that there are conditions for bilateral trade volume to reach the target of $40 billion in 2015. He said that the two sides should deepen energy cooperation from a global and strategic perspective, improve the pipeline transportation capacity, and accelerate the construction of Central Asian natural gas pipeline. Kazakhstan is satisfied with the positive progress made in the protection and utilization of trans-boundary water resources between the two countries. Kazakhstan will continue the mutually-beneficial cooperation with China in energy, non-resources, border trade and local exchange, finance, agriculture, science & technology, culture and other areas.
After the meeting, Wang Qishan and Kairat Kelimbetov jointly attended the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two governments, which include: the minute of the sixth meeting of China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee, the agreement on matters related to the expansion and operation of China-Kazakhstan crude oil pipeline, the agreement on the cooperation in the construction and operation of Sara Blake - Jimunai gas pipeline, the protocol to modify and supplement trans-border railway agreement, the memorandum on the regulation of fast customs clearance of cargo trains in transit on "Chongqing - Xinjiang - Europe" international railway and the protocol of cooperation to revise the customs statistical methods and information concerning foreign trade.