Chinese president invited to visit Kazakhstan

BEIJING. February 23. KAZINFORM Chinese President Hu Jintao has been invited by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to visit Kazakhstan as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) celebrates its tenth anniversary later this year in the Kazakh capital city of Astana.

Hu "thanked Nazarbayev and accepted the invitation with pleasure," according to a China-Kazakhstan joint communique released on Wednesday during Nazarbayev's state visit to China from Feb. 21 to 23.

According to Xinhua, Kazakhstan, this year's rotating chair state of the SCO, will host a SCO summit in Astana on June 15 to review the development of the organization over the past decade and to discuss and formulate its future missions.

During Nazarbayev's stay in Beijing, China and Kazakhstan inked a series of cooperation agreements ranging from water protection to a high-speed railway as the two heads of state vowed to boost the strategic partnership and bilateral cooperation.

The two presidents also exchanged views on the SCO, regional situation and international affairs. The SCO, established in 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and top legislator Wu Bangguo also met respectively with Nazarbayev on Tuesday, exploring ways to further bilateral pragmatic cooperation and parliamentary exchanges.

Nazarbayev left China Wednesday afternoon after visiting north China's port city Tianjin

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