KAZAKHSTAN, CHINA SIGN 25 AGREEMENTS WORTH $ 23 BILLION

Almaty, 18 Dhulqa’dah 1436/2 September 2015 (MINA) – Kazakhstan and China have signed 25 agreements worth $23 billion, aiming to move cooperation dominated by raw materials to products with greater added value, the official site of the Kazakh president and the state-run wealth fund said on Tuesday,(1/09).

Kazakhstan, a Central Asian nation of 17.5 million, is the second-largest post-Soviet oil-producer after Russia. China has invested billions in mineral-rich Kazakhstan, mainly in oil and gas, and in infrastructure projects serving the industry, Arab News quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

We have actively cooperated with China for more than 20 years, mainly in the energy sector and in extracting other raw materials, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s site (www.akorda.kz) quoted him as saying during a meeting with Chinese businessmen in Beijing.

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Monday during our constructive talks with President Xi Jinping we agreed to create 45 joint facilities, and agreements were signed on 25 of them worth a total of $23 billion.”

He gave no details. The Chinese government did not provide any details on the agreements reached.

Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna issued a statement later, saying it had signed deals worth $5.1 billion with Chinese companies as part of the package of contracts agreed during Nazarbayev’s visit.

The deals included transport and energy projects and also covered nuclear, metallurgical and chemical industries, said Samruk, which manages state-owned stakes in branches of the economy.

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In March, China and Kazakhstan signed 33 agreements worth $23.6 billion and covering areas from hydropower to steel, state news agency Xinhua reported at the time. (T/Imt/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)