President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the summit of the heads of states “Central Asia – China”

January 25, 2022. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part via videoconference in the summit of the heads of states “Central Asia – China” to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries of Central Asia and China.

 

The event was also attended by the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, and the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan S. Japarov, Tajikistan – E. Rahmon, Turkmenistan – G. Berdimuhamedow and Uzbekistan – S. Mirziyoyev.

 

In his speech, the President of Kazakhstan noted that Kazakh-Chinese cooperation is distinguished by unprecedented dynamism, high trust and genuine good neighborliness, confirmed by the volume of bilateral trade, which, following the results of 11 months of 2021, has grown to 17 billion US dollars. Of the 40 billion US dollars in Chinese investments in Central Asian states, half is concentrated in Kazakhstan.

 

The President expressed his intention to continue to support foreign investors in every possible way, including Chinese partners. In this regard, the Government of Kazakhstan is developing a new investment policy aimed at creating more favorable conditions for investors. Such a policy is an integral part of the new economic course of Kazakhstan, the Head of State said.

 

In his speech, K. Tokayev noted the strategic nature of cooperation in the energy sector and the implementation of infrastructure projects, including within the framework of the megaproject “Belt and Road Initiative”.

 

The Head of State stressed that, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China plays an important role in strengthening peace, stability and progress in the Eurasian space, including the fight against terrorism, extremism and transnational crime.

 

In this context, K. Tokayev noted the unprecedented in its audacity and cruelty aggression of the terrorist that our country faced in early January. “As a state, we have learned the necessary lessons from these tragic events and, of course, we will quickly recover. We are energetically working on the reformatting and reform of public administration, national security system and economic policy for the construction of the New Kazakhstan”.

 

Much attention in the speech of the Head of State was paid to the search for new solutions and mechanisms to unlock the huge potential of Central Asia. There was an increase in the number of joint ventures, the implementation of joint projects in industry, energy, engineering, agriculture and other sectors.

 

Trade barriers are gradually being removed. “We have begun decisive work to restore order at the customs border, including the fight against unscrupulous entrepreneurs who introduced illegal schemes and put up all sorts of barriers to business. I would like to state that imports to Kazakhstan and transit to third countries will not be affected in any way”, K. Tokayev said.

 

Another priority task of the Head of State was the diversification of transit and transport routes and the introduction of integrated logistics solutions, including through the launch of new land corridors. He said that for these purposes Kazakhstan plans to invest 20 billion US dollars by 2025, which will certainly expand transit flows from China.

 

1. Tokayev also noted the relevance of introducing new models of sustainable development, in particular, the decarbonization of the economy and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, and proposed to establish close interaction and exchange of best practices in this area.

 

A separate block in the speech was devoted to the issue of ensuring security in the region. The President drew attention to the significant opportunities of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. As the Head of State noted, the transformation of the CICA would bring collective efforts to counter current challenges and threats to a qualitatively new level (6th CICA Summit will be held on October 12-13, 2022 in Kazakhstan).

 

In turn, the President of China Xi Jinping announced China's full support for Kazakhstan's efforts to protect independence, sovereignty and security.

 

As a result of the summit, a Joint Statement was adopted on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.