China, Kazakhstan ink friendly treaty    2002-12-24 15:17:40

Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his Kazakhstan counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, have signed a treaty pledging to cement their countries' friendship and cooperation. The two leaders agreed the treaty has laid a legal foundation for the future development of bilateral relations.

The pact signed in Beijing by the two presidents is called Good Neighbor Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.

They said the treaty reflects the willingness of both China and Kazakhstan to maintain a long－standing friendship.

They agreed that the bilateral ties have now entered a higher phase 11 years since the two neighbors forged diplomatic links.

Anti－terror cooperation highlighted the talks between Jiang and Nazarbayev.

President Jiang called for the establishment of a secretariat as well as a special counter－terrorism institution for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional group made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In response, President Nazarbayev threw his weight behind China's campaign to fight the East Turkistan Islam Movement in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The two leaders later signed an agreement promising to increase cooperation to combat terrorists, separatists and extremists across their borders.

Earlier this month, China and Kyrgyzstan inked a similar pact.

Jiang and Nazarbayev also discussed encouraging the bilateral trade during their talks. For now, Kazakhstan has become China's second biggest trading partner in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Nazarbayev arrived in Beijing on Sunday and his visit will last through Wednesday. Prior to his China trip, he paid a two－day visit to Russia.

	Print this news

China Central Television, All Rights Reserved Address:11 Fuxing Road Beijing, China(100859) We welcome feedback and comments at E-mail:webmaster@mail.cctv.com Best viewed with 800*600 pixels,16 Bit Color