A Friendly Neighborhood

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This September， I was honored to travel with President Xi Jinping to the Conference on the Establishment of the SinoKazakhstan Entrepreneurs Committee. The meeting was held in Astana， the capital of Kazakhstan， and attended by state heads and government officials from both countries as well as 140 Chinese and 138 Kazakh entrepreneurs.

I assume that the relationship between countries is like that of neighbors. It is very important to get along. Good neighbors are always ready to lend each other a hand.

China and Kazakhstan are indeed neighbors， with a border stretching over 1，700 kilometers. A good neighborhood requires assured border security. This is especially true for Kazakhstan in terms of its unique geographical location – the world’s largest landlocked country is situated in central Asia， bordering Russia， Uzbekistan， Turkmenistan， and Kyrgyzstan， with the Caspian Sea to the west and China to the east.

Kazakhstan’s major industries are petroleum， mining， coal， and animal husbandry. Its capabilities in processing， machine building， and light industry， however， are comparatively slow. Of the country’s population of 16.99 million， more than 64 percent are Kazakhs. China established diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan on January 3， 1992， since which time the countries have joined hands in economy and trade. Today， Kazakhstan is China’s second largest trading partner in the Commonwealth of Independent States， next to Russia， while China is Kazakhstan’s largest. The country is the third largest market for Chinese foreign investment.

President Xi addressed the conference， remarking that his arrival with a large group of Chinese entrepreneurs was meant to connect each nation’s businessmen to accelerate the economic prosperity of both countries through many potential cooperative projects.

I was greatly inspired by the 60-minute conference. It was perfect time for a visit to Astana， after Kazakhstan moved its capital from Alma-Ata in 1997. The new capital， a brand new city， is brimming with business opportunities.

In fact， our company already began exporting to Kazakhstan a few years ago， but our products didn’t sell well in the country due to its underdeveloped industry. Other products might find greater market potential since the country has abundant resources such as petroleum， natural gas， and coal. But my company has never been too involved in those sectors. As an enterprise， we want to focus on what we do best： making top-of-the-line hand hydraulic carriers， electro-mobiles， forklifts， and other logistical products.