Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his working visit to Shanghai, reaffirming the growing strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and China.

Thanking Xi Jinping for inviting him to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Tokayev described Shanghai as the symbolic venue for the global event and congratulated the Chinese leader on the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, The Caspian Post reports via Kazinform.

"China has immense authority within the international community, and its achievements are recognized all over the world. Today, we are all following the remarkable changes taking place in your country with great interest. I believe this is, above all, the result of your visionary leadership and relentless work. I deeply respect you as a strong leader guiding your nation forward and as a wise politician of global stature. We are always ready to support your noble initiatives. Kazakhstan is consistently interested in comprehensively strengthening our permanent strategic partnership with China. In recent years, the political dialogue between our nations has intensified significantly," President Tokayev stated.

Tokayev emphasized the rapid expansion of economic ties, noting that China is Kazakhstan's largest trading partner. Chinese investment in Kazakhstan has reached $30 billion, while bilateral trade climbed to $49 billion last year. More than 8,500 Chinese companies are currently operating across Kazakhstan.

The two countries are jointly implementing major projects in manufacturing, energy, petrochemicals, machine building, and agriculture, further strengthening economic cooperation.

The Kazakh leader also highlighted the growing cultural and people-to-people connections between the two nations.

"Last year, over 1 million Chinese citizens visited Kazakhstan. Cultural centers were opened in the capitals of both countries. LuBan Workshops are functioning successfully in our country. This serves as yet another testament to the friendship and mutual trust established between our peoples," President Tokayev emphasized.

Beyond bilateral relations, Tokayev said Kazakhstan and China continue to coordinate closely on global issues through international platforms, including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), and the Central Asia-China cooperation format.

The talks came as Tokayev continues his working visit to Shanghai, where he also met with executives from leading Chinese technology companies.

During the visit, Kazakh and Chinese partners signed more than 70 commercial agreements worth over $15 billion, underscoring the accelerating pace of economic cooperation between the two countries.