Tokayev expresses support for Beijing’s initiative to conduct collective missions as part of UN

NUR-SULTAN. KAZINFORM – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held a meeting with Chinese State Councilor, Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe who arrived in Kazakhstan for an official visit, Kazinform cites the Akorda press service.

At the start of the conversation, the Kazakh Head of State positively assessed the implementation of important agreements reached during his State visit to Beijing in September 2019 and working visit to China in February 2022.

It was noted that the key guidance in this work is the Declaration on long-term strategic partnership between the two States approved at the highest level.

«This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. 30 years ago, we literally started out with nothing, and now are strategic partners. Great results have been reached in economic cooperation. Kazakhstan and China are close partners in the world’s arena, primarily within the UN and other international organizations. Therefore, I am very satisfied with the current level of development of interrelations between our countries, but also believe that this cooperation should be developed, taken further, and bring new results,» said Tokayev.

The President highlighted that Kazakhstan places great hopes for the planned State visit of China’s Chairman Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan in September 2022. According to him, the upcoming talks are to give a new strong impetus to the development of Kazakh-Chinese ties.

The talks focused on the state of and prospects for bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the peacekeeping and military and technical spheres.

In particular, Head of State Tokayev accentuated the readiness of the country to expand the geography of participation of Kazakh soldiers in UN peacekeeping missions. In his turn, the President supported the initiative of Beijing to conduct collective missions as part of this universal organization.

For his part, Wei Fenghe confirmed the readiness of China to further develop close cooperation in this field. According to him, large-scale changes aimed at increasing the capacity of the Armed Forces and strengthening of defense capacity of the country will greatly contribute to progress in this area. The Minister commended the domestic and foreign policy of Kazakhstan.

The interlocutors also exchanged views on the current issues of international and regional agendas.