On 7 May both President Xi Jinping and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan agreed to accelerate the mutual strategy of China’s “Silk Road” economy and Kazakhstan’s “Bright Road” economy on the basis of equality and mutual benefits. When interviewed by China Radio International, Nursultan, a UCAS student from Kazakhstan said China and Kazakhstan are working towards their common aims as both economies are very suited to each other and highly complementary.
Nursultan feels that President Xi attached great importance to the Sino-Kazakhstan relationship so he first visited Kazakhstan on the “New Silk Road” after proposing the strategic concept of the “Belt and Road” initiative when he visited Kazakhstan more than one year ago. The fact that President Xi visited Kazakhstan twice within less than two years indicates the new level of friendship attained by both courtries.
The “Bright Road” economy focuses on promoting infrastructure construction in Kazakhstan, including transportation, industry, and energy while the “Silk Road” economy aims to promote the connectivity of the Asian, European, African continents and their adjacent seas, establish and strengthen partnership among the countries along the Belt and Road by combining various means of railway, highway, aviation, internet and power grid. Nursultan said China and Kazakhstan therefore have a close relationship and are helping and supporting each other. He hoped both countries will thrive economically through implementing the two strategies.
