Tokayev Says Kazakhstan Ready to Strengthen «Eternal» Strategic Partnership with China
Kazakh president highlights record trade, Middle Corridor and AI cooperation in exclusive interview with Xinhua.
BISHKEK: President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said relations between Kazakhstan and China have reached an unprecedentedly high level, with Astana ready to consistently strengthen its «eternal comprehensive strategic partnership» with Beijing, in an exclusive written interview with Xinhua News Agency.
Tokayev said Kazakhstan and China were united by a long shared border and centuries of good-neighbourly relations, describing their political dialogue as the cornerstone of the bilateral strategic partnership. He said the partnership had become truly comprehensive, spanning trade, investment, energy, transport, industrial cooperation, agriculture, digitalisation, healthcare, science, education and culture.
The Kazakh leader said bilateral trade continued to set new records, with China ranking first among Kazakhstan’s foreign trade partners. He described transport and logistics as a strategic area of cooperation, citing the Belt and Road megaproject, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (also known as the Middle Corridor), new railway lines, and modernised border infrastructure as reshaping transport links between Asia and Europe.
On technology, Tokayev said China’s global leadership in artificial intelligence, digital technologies, robotics and high-tech manufacturing complemented Kazakhstan’s own push for accelerated digital transformation, noting that 2026 had been declared the Year of Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence in Kazakhstan. He said Kazakhstan had become one of 29 founding states of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in July, calling it a step toward an open international system for coordinating AI governance.
The president reaffirmed Kazakhstan’s adherence to the One-China policy and said Astana would continue coordinating with Beijing within the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Tokayev noted that the SCO marks its 25th anniversary this year, describing its «Shanghai Spirit» of mutual trust, equality and respect for cultural diversity as a «standard» for international cooperation. He also highlighted growing people-to-people ties, noting that Chinese tourist arrivals in Kazakhstan rose 47 percent in 2025 to 962,000 following the introduction of a mutual visa-free regime, with tens of thousands of Kazakh students currently studying in China.
Photos courtesy of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Estonia.
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