Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region – open western Gate, Shandong – open eastern gate of China

The second day of the working visit of Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin to China began with a meeting with the Secretary of the party Committee of Shandong Province Mr. Lin Wu in Jinan.

The arrival of the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan in Jinan Lin Wu assessed as the opening of a new page in the bilateral relations between Shandong and Kazakhstan.

«China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, friends, partners. The state visit of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Xi'an and participation in the China–Central Asia summit in March this year became the basis for the emergence of new areas of close cooperation, the transition to the «golden 30th anniversary» of Kazakh-Chinese cooperation», - Lin Wu said in his welcoming speech.

Shandong Province is a densely populated, economically and culturally developed region, the great Yellow River flows through it. The population exceeds 100 million people. In terms of GDP, the province ranks 3rd in the country. As Lin Wu noted, there are some difficulties in the region's economy today, the negative impact of the three-year pandemic is affecting, especially on industry, services, real estate, and export-import operations. But now the province is setting itself new tasks to increase trade turnover.

«We are ready to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture, mechanical engineering, and the creation of smart household appliances», - Lin Wu stressed.

For his part, Serik Zhumangarin also noted the good neighborhood and friendly relations between the leaders of the countries as the basis of strategic cooperation.

«The results of our mutual trade are impressive, Shandong Province ranks fourth in terms of trade with Kazakhstan after XUAR, Beijing and Gansu province. Last year, of the total trade turnover with China of $24.1 billion, two billion was trade with Shandong. Not so long ago, I had the honor to receive the secretary of the XUAR Party Committee Ma Sinjui in Astana and Almaty. Then he said that the policy of Xinjiang designated a new vector of development as «Xinjiang – the open western gate of China». Let me suggest that Shandong Province become the open eastern gate of its country», - he said.

Efficient logistics and developed infrastructure of transport routes are one of the main promising areas for intensifying cooperation with Shandong. And there is already a base for development. In December 2022, JSC «NC «KTZ» and China's largest port operator Shandong Port Group signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which the parties agreed to develop multimodal container services and digital products.

Following the visit, Serik Zhumangarin invited Lin Wu to hold meetings with business during his planned visit to Kazakhstan in September.

«I really hope that a dialogue will take place between our businessmen in such areas as production and deep processing in agriculture, mining, agronomy, construction of trade and logistics complexes and others. Our President attaches great importance to the development of political, economic and trade relations with China, and we are committed to long—term and effective work», - S. Zhumangarin said.