ASTANA (TCA) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev hope cooperation between the two countries will help rejuvenate the ancient Silk Road. They expressed so in inscriptions in a picture album on the two countries’ scenery and cooperation under China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and Kazakhstan’s Bright Road new economic plan, Xinhua reports.
Noting that this year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the first Chinese Year of Tourism in Kazakhstan, Xi said the picture album showed the two countries’ wonderful natural landscape and mutual friendship to the world.
The album of around 200 pictures taken by photographers from both countries was launched on June 6 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
In 2016, the two leaders signed a plan to synergize the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Bright Road programs.
Xi said the two countries have cooperated actively under the Belt and Road Initiative and this will bring new vitality to the ancient Silk Road.
Nazarbayev stressed the significance of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Bright Road, saying they will regenerate the “old while great” ancient Silk Road of commercial exchange.
He said that the 2017 Chinese Year of Tourism in Kazakhstan will enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.
The album, specially made to revive the Silk Road, will demonstrate the two countries’ remarkable achievements, he said.
The album was co-published by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration’s China Pictorial and Kazakhstan’s Kazinform news agency.
From June 7 to 10, Xi will pay a state visit to Kazakhstan, to attend the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the opening ceremony of the World Expo in Astana.
In the meantime, a TV program featuring Silk Road stories, co-sponsored by China and Kazakhstan, was launched on June 6 in Astana, Xinhua reported.
The program, named “The Silk Road Theater,” was jointly organized by China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television and Kazakhstan’s Khabar television station.
Also on Tuesday, a special edition of a Russian-language magazine was issued in Astana, which focuses on the development of friendly relations and cooperation between China and Kazakhstan.
