Business cooperation seen growing rapidly

Despite the protracted COVID-19 pandemic and complicated international situation, the development of the BRI continues to demonstrate strong resilience and vitality, injecting dynamic impetus into global openness, cooperation and economic recovery, said Feng Yaoxiang, head of the trade and investment promotion department at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing.

Echoing this sentiment, Kuanysh Amantay, general representative in China of Kazakh Invest National Company JSC, the country's national investment promotion agency, said he hopes that Chinese and Kazakh companies will expand and deepen cooperation in the areas of petrochemicals, agriculture and logistics in the coming years.

In addition to the industrial projects in the priority areas listed by the government, projects exceeding $15 million are allowed to receive preferential policies in income tax, land tax and asset tax in Kazakhstan, he added.

Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF, noted that Kazakhstan, as China's third-largest pipeline gas supplier after Turkmenistan and Russia, plays a key role in ensuring domestic gas supplies, especially when liquefied natural gas prices have surged to record highs this year.

The China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline, China's first transnational gas pipeline that runs from the border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, passes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and links up with China's West-to-East Gas Pipeline in Horgos, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, has delivered more than 400 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China over a period of more than 12 years, State-owned PipeChina West Pipeline Company said in June.

Apart from reinforcing infrastructure and energy cooperation with China, Kazakhstan introduced a visa-free entry policy for Chinese citizens in July. It allows them a continuous visa-free stay in the country of up to 14 days for business and travel purposes, as it hopes to further promote direct contacts between businesses and better utilize its potential for international tourist visits.