ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 5. Kazakhstan, in partnership with China, is implementing plans to double the volume of bilateral trade, Trend reports.
Olzhas Bektenov, the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, announced this during his working visit to China, where he participated in a Kazakh-Chinese investment roundtable with business representatives. Additionally, he plans to engage in discussions with Premier Li Qiang in Shanghai and take part in the VII China International Import Expo.
The roundtable featured leaders from major sectors, including metallurgy, energy, engineering, automotive, coal chemistry, the agro-industrial complex, and pharmaceuticals. The Kazakh delegation included heads of relevant ministries and executives from significant domestic enterprises.
Approximately 5,000 joint ventures are currently operating successfully in Kazakhstan.
During the discussions, key Kazakh-Chinese joint projects were announced, including the construction of a soda ash production plant in partnership with Camc Engineering, the "Sastobe" chemical complex with the Tianjin Cement Industry Design and Research Institute, and an explosives manufacturing plant with Yunnan Industrial Explosive Group.
Zhu Bin, an executive member of the board of directors of China Huadian Corporation, spoke about expanding cooperation with Kazakhstan in the energy sector, particularly in emissions reduction. Concurrently, Yan Gochun, acting general director of CHN Energy Investment, shared plans for launching Kazakhstan's first coal-chemical complex.
In closing, the Prime Minister emphasized that industrial development is a key priority for Kazakhstan and urged Chinese companies to establish closer partnerships with the Kazakh business community.
The meeting resulted in the signing of eight commercial agreements totaling $2.5 billion.
Last year, trade between Kazakhstan and China reached a record of $31.5 billion. Previously, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chairman Xi Jinping discussed plans to double bilateral trade volumes from last year's historic highs.