Chinese premier, Kazakh president meet on ties

BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday met with visiting Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to discuss bilateral ties.

Wen said China and Kazakhstan have made great progress in exchanges and cooperation since the two nations established a comprehensive strategic partnership.

He said China is ready to work together with Kazakhstan to map out a plan of cooperation on bilateral economic and trade, as well as in adjacent regions, while boosting cooperation in such fields as energy, railways, agriculture and finance.

The premier said the Chinese government encourages domestic enterprises to invest in Kazakhstan to improve the industry's competitiveness.

For his part, Nazarbayev said China has strongly supported Kazakhstan in dealing with the global financial crisis, which has brought out fruitful achievements in Kazakhstan-China practical cooperation.

He said his country is willing to work closely with China to strengthen cooperation in the areas of the economy and trade, energy, nuclear power, technology and transportation so to consolidate cooperation in adjacent regions of the two nations and promote common development.

Nazarbayev arrived in Beijing Tuesday afternoon to visit China and attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Beijing as a guest of Chinese President Hu Jintao.