ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The following article was published today by
China Daily:
"Dear Grandpa Xi Jinping, Welcome to Astana, Kazakhstan," Daria, a 10-year-old Kazakh girl,
told the Chinese president in Mandarin shortly after his arrival on
Tuesday. "We are honored to meet you, and we like you!"
The interaction at the Astana airport came after a dozen Kazakh
children sang the popular Chinese song Ode to the Motherland in
front of President Xi and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev,
who welcomed him at the airport.
Xi, smiling, praised the children for their Chinese and asked
where they learned it.
Speaking in fluent Mandarin, Daria told Xi that she wants to
study at prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing in the future.
"We welcome you to study in Chinese colleges in the future," Xi
said.
This was part of the heartfelt gestures and diplomatic goodwill
extended by President Tokayev to welcome Xi on his fifth visit to
the Central Asian country and on his attendance at the 24th Meeting
of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization.
Tokayev expressed warm welcome to Xi in Mandarin at the stairway
of his plane, which was escorted by three Kazakh Air Force fighter
jets upon its entry into the nation's airspace.
At the airport, Tokayev hosted a welcoming ceremony that
involved an honor guard of more than 100, and 100 Kazakh children
waving flags of the two nations and enthusiastically greeting the
Chinese president.
After the ceremony, Tokayev presented Xi with a copy of the
newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, which carried President Xi's
signed article published ahead of his visit.
The warm reception epitomized the close personal bond between Xi
and Tokayev and the vitality of ties between the two neighboring
countries.
"Over the past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic
relations, China and Kazakhstan
have withstood the tests of time and international changes, forging
a unique and enduring permanent comprehensive strategic
partnership," Xi said in written remarks delivered at the
airport.
"The enduring friendship between our two nations has grown
stronger over generations, setting a model for neighboring
countries by exemplifying mutual support, win-win cooperation and
shared achievements."
Two-way trade between China and Kazakhstan registered a record high of
$41 billion in 2023, with China now
being Kazakhstan's largest trading
partner and its top export destination.
The unique and high-level nature of the bilateral relationship
was also exemplified in September
2022 when Xi chose Astana as the destination of his first
trip overseas since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trip saw Xi being conferred the Order of the Golden Eagle,
the highest honor of Kazakhstan,
by Tokayev.
"A genuine great leader," Tokayev said of the Chinese president
while bestowing the order, underscoring the historic role and
immense contribution from Xi in consolidating friendship between
the two nations and strengthening bilateral ties.
"I treasure this medal deeply, a symbol of the enduring
friendship between our peoples. With our combined efforts, I am
confident that China-Kazakhstan
relations will soar like a golden eagle, reaching new heights and
bringing even greater benefits to our nations," the Chinese
president said at the conferring ceremony.
Another quintessential moment of the camaraderie between the two
leaders took place in May 2023, when
Tokayev was in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, for a state visit and the
China-Central Asia Summit.
The visit coincided with the Kazakh leader's 70th birthday, and
after the formal state activities, the two leaders shared a dinner
that featured local performances and steaming bowls of Shaanxi longevity noodles, complete with warm
birthday wishes.
"On this special occasion, your visit speaks volumes about the
strength of our bilateral ties and reaffirms your unique bond with
China," Xi told Tokayev.
Zhao Huirong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences' Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian
Studies, said the mutual trust and strong emphasis of both leaders
on bilateral relations has kept taking ties to historic high
levels.
The interaction between Xi and the Kazakh children mirrored the
increasingly robust public support for the strengthening of ties
between the two nations, she added.
Mutual visa-exemption arrangements have spurred people-to-people
exchanges, and Sino-Kazakh pragmatic cooperation has delivered
tangible benefits to the two peoples, she said.
President Tokayev, who is highly knowledgeable about China and
speaks fluent Mandarin, has demonstrated a keen interest in and
high expectations for China-Kazakhstan cooperation, and he is optimistic
about the future prospects of this partnership, Zhao said.
"We have every reason to believe that, led by head-of-state
diplomacy, the mutual trust and cooperation between China and
Kazakhstan will surge to higher
levels and broader scopes, setting an example for ties between
China and countries in the region," she said.
By XU WEI and REN QI
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SOURCE China Daily