ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 16. Kazakhstan intends to more than double its trade turnover with China, said President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a meeting with Vice Premier of the State Council of China Liu Guozhong, Trend reports.
"China leads Kazakhstan's trade and economic partnership in volume. At the end of 2023, this figure reached a record of $40 billion. We set the goal of bringing trade turnover to $100 billion. We believe that this figure is quite achievable," he said.
In turn, Liu Guozhong noted the positive dynamics in the development of cooperation between China and Kazakhstan.
"As a long-time and good friend of the Chinese people, over the years you have made an important contribution to the development of Chinese-Kazakh relations, which is highly appreciated by the Chinese side. China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, reliable partners, and very good friends who complement each other," he said.
During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed prospects for strengthening cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, agriculture, transport and logistics, energy, and tourism.
Meanwhile, the volume of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China amounted to $4.36 billion from January through February 2024. The volume of trade turnover increased by 25 percent compared to the same period in 2023 ($3.48 billion).
At the same time, in the structure of trade turnover, exports to China for the above period amounted to $2.26 billion, which is 53 percent more than January-February 2023 ($1.47 billion).
In addition, Chinese imports rose 4.5 percent to $2.1 billion in January–February 2024. From January through February 2023, imports amounted to $2 billion.