ASTANA – Over 40 Kazakh companies display their products at the China-Eurasia Expo international exhibition, which opened on Aug. 17 in Urumqi, reported the Prime Minister’s press service. The exhibition will last until Aug. 21.
The event brought together Kazakh producers of pasta, oil and fat products, confectionery, jams and marmalades, honey, alcoholic and soft drinks, cereals and bran, textiles, jewelry, and ice cream. The exhibition also has pavilions of producers from Europe, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and other countries.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin, in his speech, emphasized the priority of the Chinese market for Kazakh products.
“Kazakhstan and China are united by a common history created by our ancestors. It was the path of peace, good neighborliness, trade, and exchange of cultural ties. We, the descendants of the people who started this grandiose work, should continue it with dignity and pass it on to the new generation,” he said.
Ma Xingrui, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in his welcoming speech, emphasized China’s openness to cooperation with the countries of West and Central Asia.
“We invite everyone to create new platforms for cooperation in trade and industry. We are focused on cooperation with countries worldwide, especially Central Asia,” said Xingrui.
According to Zhumangarin, mutual trade hit a record $24.1 billion in 2022. In January-June, the figure reached $13.6 billion with a 40% turnover with Xinjiang.
In March, Xingrui paid an official visit to Kazakhstan and participated in a cross-border cooperation dialogue in Almaty, where Kazakh and Chinese business leaders signed 16 documents, including five commercial agreements worth $565.4 million.
As part of his visit to China, Zhumangarin met with the Secretary of the Party Committee of Shandong Province, Lin Wu in the city of Jinan to address cooperation and development of logistics and infrastructure of transport routes as one of the main promising areas for intensifying cooperation with Shandong.
Shandong Province is an economically and culturally developed region with over 100 million inhabitants. The province’s gross domestic product (GDP) ranks third in the country.
“We are ready to deepen cooperation in agriculture, mechanical engineering, and the creation of smart home appliances,” Wu said.
Zhumangarin highlighted good neighborhood and friendly relations between the leaders of both countries as the basis for strategic cooperation and encouraged Wu to hold meetings with businesses during his scheduled visit to Kazakhstan in September.
Source : AstanaTimes
