ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 30. Over the last 17 years, China has invested some $23.5 billion in Kazakhstan's economy, Trend reports.
The figure was revealed at the meeting between Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and Chinese Ambassador to the country Zhang Xiao.
According to the PM, China has been among TOP-5 investors in the Kazakh economy over the past years.
"We see great potential for increasing the volume of investments. We invite the investment community of China to expand its participation in joint projects," Smailov added.
In turn, the ambassador recalled that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, to which Kazakhstan was one of the first to respond and and actively joined.
"A lot of work has been done within this framework. Today we are united by 11 railways and highways, 3 oil and gas pipelines and the Khorgos Cross-Border Cooperation Center. Any of our partners can envy our achievements. This year also promises to be fruitful in terms of the development of bilateral relations," Zhang Xiao said.
Meanwhile, the bilateral trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China increased by 34 percent and reached a record figure of $24 billion. Over the first half of 2023, the same index has already grown by 20 percent and amounted to $13.6 billion. At the same time, work continues to bring the volume of bilateral trade to $35 billion by 2030.