Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 11
Trend:
Over the past five years, bilateral trade turnover between China and Kazakhstan reached $28.6 billion, which is a historic high, Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Zhang Xiao said, Kazakh media reported.
However, under the influence of complex factors like the international economic crisis and the decline in crude oil prices, etc., the trade turnover at one time decreased, he said.
Faced with difficulties, China and Kazakhstan directed efforts to optimize the bilateral trade and economic structure, expanded cooperation in the non-primary sector and successfully achieved growth of trade after the decrease, he noted.
According to China’s statistics, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $18 billion over the past year, which is a 37.4 percent growth, the ambassador said.
He added that this was facilitated by the promotion of unimpeded trade, optimization of the trade and economic structure.
He said that a new, even greater annual increase in the trade turnover is quite possible.
It is especially worth noting that last year China imported wheat, sunflower seeds and other Kazakh agricultural products, the total volume of which exceeded 500,000 tons, which is a 20 percent growth, and this became a new bright event in the bilateral trade, said Zhang Xiao.
He noted that presently, Kazakhstan is China’s first trading partner in Central Asia and second in the CIS.