Xi's visit to Astana will further boost SCO

President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Kazakhstan from June 7 to 10, during which he will attend the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Astana.

Xi's trip will be the first by a Chinese leader to Central Asia this year, which marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan. It was during his visit to Astana four years ago that Xi proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt, the on-land component of the Belt and Road Initiative. This time, his visit to the Central Asian country is expected to influence in multiple ways the bilateral cooperation under the frameworks of the initiative and the SCO.

Since their comprehensive strategic partnership came into force in 2011, Beijing and Astana have managed to strengthen bilateral exchanges in many fields, as Kazakhstan became the first country to reach agreements with China on cross-border rail transport of goods, overland oil pipelines, and capacity cooperation. China is also its largest trade and investment partner.