OREANDA-NEWS. August 26, 2013. Kazakh Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov held a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wang Yi.

During the meeting, Akhmetov emphasized the role of the regular political dialogue between the two leaders in the development of bilateral relations and stressed the importance of the upcoming state visit of President Xi Jinping to Kazakhstan.

According to Akhmetov, trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and China is developing dynamically. The volume of trade amounted to more than 25 billion dollars in 2012. There is an opportunity to increase trade to 40 billion dollars by 2015.

Among the promising areas of cooperation Akhmetov called oil and gas, energy and transport sectors, development of agriculture and transit potential. In this regard, he called for the strengthening of ties of the Kazakhstan-China Business Council.

Another important aspect of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan, as noted by Akhmetov, is cooperation in the field of management of transboundary rivers. He proposed to start a discussion of a draft intergovernmental agreement on water sharing.

Wang Yi said that the Chinese side will"find a decent solution to this issue, transboundary rivers will become bonds to closely unite our two peoples."

The Foreign Minister of China conveyed greetings and good wishes from Premier Li Keqiang. Wang stressed that "the new Chinese leadership attaches great importance to the strengthening of strategic cooperation with Kazakhstan." He also expressed confidence that "the upcoming visit of the President of China will raise the level of bilateral relations to a new height."