Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev held talks in Beijing Thursday afternoon.

The heads of states agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields and join hands to tackle the challenge of international financial crisis.

Chinese President Hu Jintao(R) shakes hands with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Beijing, China, April 16, 2009. [Liu Weibing/Xinhua]

After the talks, Hu and Nazarbayev signed a joint declaration and witnessed the signing of 10 agreements on cooperation in the fields of transport, education, agriculture and telecommunications.

President Hu said the strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan had maintained a fast growth in recent years. The two countries have maintained frequent high-level contacts, political mutual trust, expansion of practical cooperation and good collaboration within the multilateral frameworks.

Chinese President Hu Jintao(L) and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev review honor guards at the welcoming ceremony in honor of Kazakhstan's President in Beijing, China, April 16, 2009. [Huang Jingwen/Xinhua]

Hu expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for supporting China on such major issues as Taiwan, Tibet and the holding of Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.

Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan values the development of friendly and cooperative relations with China. He said China has raised its status in the international community by successfully holding the Olympic Games and launching the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft.

He said the effective measures taken by the Chinese government to cope with the global financial crisis have benefited not only the Chinese economy, but also the world economic growth.

Hu said the Chinese government always gives priority to developing the strategic partnership with Kazakhstan. Hu suggested that the two countries should work on four areas.

Firstly, Hu said the two countries should continue to enhance high-level contact, improve cooperative mechanism and deepen political links. The leaders of the two countries should maintain close contact. The governments of the two countries should give full play to the role of China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee to increase communication and coordination. The parliaments and political parties of the two countries should carry out exchanges in various forms on the experience of governing their respective countries.

Secondly, the two countries should utilize the complementarity of their economies to deepen cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, energy, resources and finance to achieve common development. The two sides should further optimize trade structure, expand the scale of bilateral trade, work together to build major energy and resources projects and non-resources projects, and accelerate infrastructure construction at border areas.

Thirdly, the two countries should promote cultural exchanges and cooperation. China is ready to deepen cooperation with Kazakhstan in culture, education, health, tourism and sports. He said the two countries should encourage non-governmental organizations, media and youth organizations to expand contact and enhance friendship.

Fourthly, the two countries should deepen security cooperation and join hands to tackle various challenges. He said China will continue to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Kazakhstan within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia. He said the two countries should join effort to strike trans-border organized crimes and the evil forces of separatism, terrorism and extremism so as to safeguard peace, stability and security of the two countries and the whole region.

Nazarbayev fully agreed with Hu's suggestion, saying under the current situation, Kazakhstan is ready to strengthen its strategic partnership with China. He expressed the willingness to expand bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, transport, agriculture, finance and telecommunications.

He said the two countries should continue to step up cooperation in multilateral arena, especially within the frameworks of the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia.

He said the two countries will work together to fight against the three evil forces of separatism, terrorism and extremism to maintain peace and stability in the region and the world over.

Nazarbayev reiterated that Kazakhstan supports China's stance on the issues of Taiwan and Tibet. It supports China to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Before the talks, President Hu hold a welcome ceremony for President Nazarbayev at the Great Hall of the People.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2009)