Vice President Zeng Qinghong attended the swearing-in ceremony
of reelected Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana
today.
Nazarbayev won a landslide victory for another seven-year term
by netting 91 percent of the votes in the presidential election in
December last year.
Nazarbayev first became the country's president in 1991 and was
reelected in 1999.
Delegations from more than 70 countries attended Nazarbayev's
inauguration, according to the Kazakh foreign ministry. Presidents
attending the ceremony include Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hamid
Karzai of Afghanistan and Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine.
The Kazakh side spoke highly of Zeng's presence at Nazarbayev's
inauguration, saying it is a testimony to the traditional
good-neighborly relations between the two countries and an
important step to consolidate their strategic partnership.
In a joint communiqué signed by Zeng Nazarbayev, the two leaders
vowed to promote the energy sectors of their countries as part of a
bid to deepen cooperation.
It coincides with the growing interest of both sides to enlarge
and deepen energy cooperation, the communiqué said.
The completion of the Sino-Kazakh Oil Pipeline linking Atasu to
Alataw Pass on December 15, 2005 symbolizes the new phase of energy
cooperation between the two countries, it said.
The two leaders also spoke highly of the fruits yielded in
bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
They vowed to expand trade and mutual investment and strengthen
cooperation in such fields as the economy and trade, energy,
transportation, telecommunications and finance.
The Chinese side will continue to support the active measures
adopted by Kazakhstan to carry out its industrial development
strategy and enhance its economic competitiveness, according to the
communiqué.
In the communiqué the two leaders also said by abiding by the
Shanghai pact on battling terrorism, separatism and extremism
signed on June 15, 2001 and the China-Kazakhstan treaty of
cooperation on fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism signed
on December 23, 2002, the two countries will strengthen their
coordination and cooperation in security and law enforcement
forces.
The two countries would also continue taking forceful steps in
the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to combat
the "three evil forces."
The Kazakh side reiterated that it adheres to the one-China
principle, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. Kazakhstan
opposes any attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one
Taiwan" and opposes "Taiwan independence."
Zeng arrived in Astana for a four-day official visit to
Kazakhstan and Nazarbayev's inauguration.
During his stay here, Zeng also met Kazakh Prime Minister
Daniyal Akhmetov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's Senate (upper house of
parliament) N. Abykaev, Chairman of the Mazhlis (lower house) Ural
Muhamedzanov, and Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Kemelevich
Tokayev.
Relations between China and Kazakhstan have developed smoothly
and rapidly since the two countries established diplomatic ties in
1992, featuring deep political mutual trust and close cooperation
in economy, trade and energy cooperation.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)
