As founding members of the SCO, China and Kazakhstan have always played active roles as advocates, promoters, and contributors to the development of the SCO and cooperation across various fields, he told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Over the years, the two countries have closely cooperated, promoting the SCO to actively adapt to the evolving international situation and the needs of member countries, he said, adding that the two countries have vigorously deepened mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, transportation, energy, agriculture, science and technology, education, and culture, and promoted high-quality development of the Belt and Road cooperation.
Several SCO member countries are also participants in the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he said, adding that the political, economic, and people-to-people cooperation under the SCO framework highly conforms to the five major areas of the BRI, namely policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties.
The Shanghai Spirit practiced by the SCO also aligns closely with the core values of the Silk Road Spirit, he added.
The SCO has established a comprehensive security cooperation mechanism, including joint drug control, combating the "three forces" â€" terrorism, separatism, and extremism, as well as transnational organized crime, and provided a solid security shield for the BRI, he said.
SCO member countries are committed to cooperation in science and technology, culture, education, tourism, environmental protection, and health, laying a solid foundation of public support for the BRI, said the ambassador.
The SCO's practical cooperation is increasingly deepening, not only promoting economic development and improving people's livelihoods in related countries but also providing important support and continuous momentum to the enhancement and upgrading of the BRI, he said.
Zhang said that China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, good friends, and good partners. Over the past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bilateral ties have withstood the test of changing international dynamics and achieved new breakthroughs.
Under the guidance of the two heads of state, the cooperation mechanisms at various levels between China and Kazakhstan have been operating smoothly, with new breakthroughs continuously made in various fields, injecting new momentum into the development of bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields, he said.
Noting that both countries firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests and in safeguarding their respective sovereignty, security and development interests, Zhang said they also resolutely oppose interference in other countries' internal affairs and double standards, while pursuing cooperation through practical actions for common development despite differences among civilizations and social systems.
Zhang said that China and Kazakhstan have yielded fruitful results in the Belt and Road cooperation, and enhanced cooperation in fields such as automobile manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, new energy, cultural exchanges, and higher education.
The two countries closely cooperate within the frameworks of the United Nations, the SCO, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and the China-Central Asia mechanism, practicing true multilateralism and jointly promoting the international governance system to develop in a more just and reasonable direction, he added.
The ambassador said that the two countries have been continuously deepening people-to-people exchanges, achieving fruitful products in education, science and technology, culture, tourism, and archaeology cooperation.
The two countries will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, create more efficient and convenient platforms to this end, and lay a more solid foundation of public support for developing the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, he said.
He said that China-Kazakhstan relations have entered a new "golden 30 years" facing new opportunities and challenges.
Taking President Xi Jinping's coming visit as an opportunity, China is ready to work with Kazakhstan to strengthen strategy alignment and policy coordination, deepen mutual political trust, and jointly build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, strong mutual trust and solidarity, so as to make joint contributions to regional and global stability and development, he added.
Xinhua
