ASTANA. KAZINFORM – Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov and Ma Xingrui, Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, 20th convocation, who is in Kazakhstan for his first visit, discussed wider issues of trade and economic cooperation, Kazinform cites primeminister.kz.

During the meeting, the Kazakh Premier pointed out that China is among the major trade partners of Kazakhstan, accounting for 18% of the country’s foreign trade. Last year’s trade turnover between the country hit a record of $24 billion, rising by 34%, with Xinjiang accounting for over 40%.

«Given the task set by the Heads of the two States to increase the trade turnover to $35 billion by 2030, Kazakhstan- Xinjiang mutual trade becomes even more significant. We’re ready for work on this ambitious goal with Chinese colleagues,» said Smailov.

The Head of the Kazakh Government suggested increasing Kazakh exports of 135 goods to China worth $1 billion to maintain the upward trend.

At the meeting, Smailov welcomed Xinjiang’s investor community to expand its participation in joint projects.

China is among top five investors in the Kazakh economy with the total investments of $23 billion in the past 15 years.

The Kazakh Premier stressed the significant role of border interaction, noting the importance of holding the 2nd cross-border cooperation dialogue signing a number of intraregional agreements in Almaty.

In turn, Ma Xingrui said that Kazakhstan and China are closely connected economically and stated Xinjiang’s readiness to step up mutually beneficial cooperation in agriculture, industry, energy, logistics, education, innovation, and so on.