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Category: News
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Xi arrives in Kazakhstan for 24th meeting of SCO Heads of State Council, state visit
[Click this link to watch the video->https://english.news.cn/20240702/36267422f7934f32b0016874ebc34e40/c.html]
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Full Text of Chinese president’s signed article in Kazakh media
{{Following is the full text of the article:}}
Staying True to Our Shared Commitment and Opening a New Chapter in China-Kazakhstan Relations – Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China
All beings are flourishing in the height of summer. I will soon pay a state visit to Kazakhstan and attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in this vibrant season at the invitation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. This will be my fifth visit to your country as the President of the People’s Republic of China. Kazakhstan’s enchanting land, its splendid and distinctive culture, its vast and magnificent landscape, and its nice and friendly people have been most impressive. The visit offers me an opportunity to experience first hand the new progress and new changes that have been made in Kazakhstan. I look forward to meeting with President Tokayev to plan the way forward for closer China-Kazakhstan cooperation and draw a new blueprint for further growth of China-Kazakhstan relations and the SCO.
Over 2,000 years ago, Zhang Qian, a royal emissary from China led a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, opening the door to friendship and exchanges between China and Central Asia. The ancient Silk Road, of which Zhang was a pioneer, contributed to the friendly exchanges and mutual learning between our two great nations. Over 80 years ago, Chinese musician Xian Xinghai and Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov met and came to know each other in Almaty. They soon became bosom friends and devoted brothers despite their different nationalities. Thirty-two years ago, China was among the first countries to recognize Kazakhstan’s independence. China-Kazakhstan relations have since embarked on a new journey. The history of China-Kazakhstan friendly exchanges is a strong testament to the fact that the development of our bilateral relationship conforms to the trend of history and that of our times.
It was in Kazakhstan eleven years ago that I first proposed the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt, which was warmly received by people from different sectors in Kazakhstan. This marked a magnificent chapter in Belt and Road cooperation between our two countries. And the development of China-Kazakhstan relations have since entered a new stage.
Our two countries have always supported each other and have always been partners in times of challenge. Our mutual political trust has reached a new level. The China-Kazakhstan relationship has made a leap from a comprehensive strategic partnership to a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership. The two countries have agreed on to promote the pursuit of a common future in the spirit of eternal friendship, profound mutual trust and solidarity, development and prosperity. We have rendered each other firm support on issues that bear on our respective core interests and are of major concern to us. We respect the development path that each has chosen according to our respective national conditions. We have always been trustworthy and reliable partners and would invariably extend a helping hand and do our utmost to support each other when we were hit by disasters like floods and pandemics. Such unbreakable mutual trust and support are invaluable, forming the strongest political cornerstone that underpins our bilateral cooperation.
Our two countries have always pursued mutual benefit, win-win and coordinated development, achieving new success in results-oriented cooperation. Last year, our two-way trade registered a record high of US$41 billion. China is now Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner and its top export destination. Major strategic projects including the Zhanatas wind farm, Turgusun hydropower station, and the modernization of Shymkent Oil Refinery have been completed and commissioned. China-Kazakhstan crude oil and natural gas pipelines are operating in a safe and stable manner. The “green lanes” for fast customs clearance of agricultural products are available at all border ports between the two countries, which makes green agri-products of high quality from Kazakhstan easily accessible for Chinese consumers. The potential for cooperation in new energy and transportation infrastructure has been unleashed. The transport and logistics terminal in Xi’an, the Western Europe-Western China Highway, and the China-Europe Railway Express all operate smoothly, providing a strong boost to the development of both China and Kazakhstan.
Our two countries have always helped and learned from each other and witnessed a new upsurge in people-to-people and cultural exchanges. A China-Kazakhstan agreement on mutual establishment of cultural centers has been signed. Chinese and Kazakh filmmakers have co-produced a film entitled “The Composer,” which is their first co-production. Our bilateral programs for cultural cooperation, including a Chinese university campus in Kazakhstan, a Luban Workshop, and a center of traditional Chinese medicine, have been fully implemented. These institutions are now up and running. Thanks to our mutual visa-exemption arrangements, our people can visit each other as frequently as relatives do. Last year, a total of 600,000 cross-border trips were recorded. In the first quarter of this year, the number of visits in both directions amounted to 200,000 and are expected to reach a new high. Subnational cooperation is also booming, with the number of sister cities increasing to 26 pairs. The much respected and lauded ophthalmologist Dr. Saulebek Kabibekov, the “panda-man” Ruslan Tulenov, who voluntarily donated his rare type of blood in China, and the immensely popular singer Dimash Kudaibergen have become China-Kazakhstan friendship envoys in the new era.
Our two countries have always worked together in response to various challenges, and our coordination and collaboration at the international level has achieved new and tangible results. China and Kazakhstan hold similar positions on international and regional affairs. Both countries champion the vision of common, comprehensive cooperative and sustainable security. And both are committed to acting as a world peace builder, a global development contributor, and an international order defender. We have jointly created a China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism, and maintained close coordination and collaboration in the United Nations, the SCO, and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, among other multilateral organizations. We have actively supported each other’s constructive proposals for international cooperation, and taken resolute measures to safeguard our shared strategic, security, and development interests.
China and Kazakhstan can and will accomplish a great deal in bilateral cooperation in the years to come. I hope my visit will help renew our traditional friendship and deepen the all-round cooperation between our countries. During my visit, President Tokayev and I will meet and plan the way forward for further growth of China-Kazakhstan relations and discuss how best to take the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership to new heights.
First, our two countries need to further consolidate our political tradition of mutual support. As a Chinese saying goes, “We must be people of our word in dealing with friends.” China will continue to treat our Kazakh friends with sincerity and engage them with trust. China will work with Kazakhstan to further consolidate mutual political trust, strengthen strategic communication, and firmly support each other on issues that bear on our respective core interests and are of major concern to us. As always, China will support Kazakhstan in upholding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, in continuing on the development path suited to its national conditions, in implementing domestic and foreign policies in the interest of its development and prosperity, and in opposing interference in its internal affairs by any external forces. Our two countries need to always follow the four principles that hold key to the success of our cooperation, namely, mutual respect, good neighborly friendship, solidarity in trying times, and mutual benefit, so as to ensure sustained and steady growth of China-Kazakhstan relations.
Second, our two countries need to stay committed to the golden rule of mutual benefit and win-win in our cooperation. China and Kazakhstan have different yet complementary resource endowments and industries. This offers huge potential for cooperation. China stands ready to promote greater synergy between Belt and Road cooperation and the economic policies under a Just Kazakhstan at a faster pace, and further open our super-sized market to Kazakhstan so that our Kazakh friends can share the opportunities of our development. Our two countries need to deepen cooperation in traditional sectors including business, trade, industrial capacity, investment, energy, mining and agriculture, and enhance the efficiency of customs clearance at border ports. We need to ensure the high-quality operation of the China-Europe Railway Express, advance the construction of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, and make the network connecting our two countries more multidimensional, diverse and efficient. We need to significantly unleash the potential for cooperation in such high-tech areas as new energy, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, cross-border e-commerce, aviation and aerospace, and build more industrial and supply chains with high added-values, in order to inject new impetus to our cooperation.
Third, our two countries need to strengthen public support for an everlasting China-Kazakhstan friendship. A deeper and stronger China-Kazakhstan friendship is what our two peoples aspire to. It is therefore important that we carry forward such friendship and enhance mutual understanding and affinity between our peoples through a diverse range of cultural and people-to-people exchange programs. Our two countries need to ensure the success of the Luban Workshop, Confucius Institutes, and the Kazakh campus of the Northwestern Polytechnical University to foster future generations who will carry forward the China-Kazakhstan friendship. China welcomes joint education programs and joint research projects between Chinese and Kazakh higher education institutions, think tanks and research institutes. China supports closer interactions between people from all sectors across Chinese and Kazakh societies. Both countries need to encourage more twinning between our provinces and cities and more cooperation on education, tourism, archaeology, arts, and media, so as to expand the depth and scope of China-Kazakhstan cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Fourth, our two countries need to be responsive to the accelerated changes on a scale unseen in a century that are unfolding across the world. Changes and turbulence in the global landscape pose new threats and new challenges, but also bring new opportunities and create new possibilities for all-round cooperation of mutual benefit between China and Kazakhstan. We Chinese believe that in every challenge lies an opportunity, and that challenges and opportunities are interchangeable. China stands ready to join hands with Kazakhstan in response to the changes of historic significance that are taking place in our world and in our times. We need to foster new opportunities amid crises, and open up new horizons on a shifting landscape. China will work with Kazakhstan to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, act on true multilateralism, oppose hegemonism, power politics and bloc confrontation. We will work together to build an equal and orderly multipolar world, promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and bring about more positivity and certainty to world peace and stability.
Another important item on my agenda in Kazakhstan is to attend the SCO Summit. China highly commends the successful and fruitful work Kazakhstan has done in its capacity as the SCO chair to grow the influence of the organization. I have no doubt that the SCO Astana Summit will be a great success through concerted efforts of all parties and will help rally the SCO family closer and open up new prospects for SCO cooperation.
As a Chinese saying goes, “Success comes to those who share in one purpose. Triumph belongs to those who pull together in times of challenge.” In Kazakhstan, people say that five fingers held together make a powerful fist, and many people working in unity form a mighty force.
China will work shoulder to shoulder with Kazakhstan on the path to national prosperity and rejuvenation. Let us jointly draw up a new blueprint for closer cooperation and open a new chapter in China-Kazakhstan friendly relations.
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Moments in Motion | Xi’s memorable moments with Kazakhstan
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Kagame slams “stupid” past leaders, vows to reverse effects on Rwandans
He conceded that most of the problems Rwanda has faced are due to “stupid” leaders who previously held positions in the country’s topmost offices.
“These former leaders of our country were very stupid. That’s why we ended up facing political mayhem the way we did. This had so many negative effects on so many of us but we are working hard to reverse that,” he said.
Amid endless cheers and applause from ecstatic supporters, Kagame implored the public to wisely exercise their constitutional rights by choosing leaders who will steer the country forward.
The incumbent Head of State, who is seeking re-election on July 15, has already campaigned in all districts in the Western and Southern provinces. He has also campaigned at one site in the Northern Province and Kigali City respectively.
He is expected to take his campaign to the districts of Bugesera, Nyagatare, Gakenke, Kayonza Gicumbi and some parts of Kigali in the coming days.
Today, Kagame thanked thousands of residents who turned up to express dedication, support and love for their favorite candidate.
“I thank you so much for coming in large numbers. This demystifies critics who keep saying that we force people to turn up for our campaigns,” he noted.
According to him Rwanda’s future lies in the hands of the youth which is why they have to be empowered and equipped with all the necessary tools and skills to enable individual growth and personal development.
President Kagame expressed optimism that by building on what has been achieved so far, the country’s development is certainly destined for greater heights.
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CAF president hails Amahoro as one of “world’s most beautiful and best stadiums”
The state-of-the-art facility, renovated for $160 million, was officially opened by President Paul Kagame on Rwanda’s Independence Day.
The CAF boss was among the dignitaries who attended the opening ceremony, which featured a trophy match between APR FC and Police FC to mark the inauguration. APR FC lifted the trophy after beating Police FC 1-0.
Commenting on the renovations that included equipping the stadium with modern facilities and expanding its capacity from 25,000 to 45,000, Motsepe said Rwandans and Africans should be “so proud” of President Kagame for “birthing the best stadium”.
“This is one of the most beautiful, one of the best stadiums in Africa and in the world. We as Rwandans, we as Africans, should be so proud and thank our president for his leadership and birthing the best stadium,” remarked the CAF president two weeks after CAF approved Amahoro Stadium for use in all upcoming CAF and FIFA competitions, confirming that the newly refurbished facility meets all required standards.
He expressed confidence that the sporting facility will empower local talent to reach their full potential and increase sporting competition not just in Rwanda but across the continent.
“The next time I come here, I want to see the national team of Rwanda playing against the best national teams of countries in Africa. With your support, with your love, and with the talent and sports talent we have in Rwanda, we are going to win. Rwanda will win. Rwanda will be the best in Africa,” he stated, adding, “I want to say to my brother President Kagame, thank you for your commitment, thank you for your love, thank you for your sacrifices to improve and make the lives of our people in Rwanda amongst the best in Africa, and this beautiful stadium is a reflection of the people of Rwanda.”
On his part, President Kagame said the renovation works at Amahoro Stadium were inspired by Motsepe and his FIFA counterpart Gianni Infantino
“Let me thank the president of CAF, my brother Patrice Mosepe, together with another brother and friend, President of FIFA Gianni Infantino. The two inspired us to put up a good sporting facility like this one. They have done many things to support Rwanda and other brotherly African countries and beyond to raise the kind of football through availing this kind of facility to many countries so that the young people of Africa can have where to develop and exercise the huge talent we have on our continent,” President Kagame averred.
Kagame said the stadium will help retain talent and challenged the youth to take advantage of the facility to grow their sporting careers both locally and abroad.
“In fact, this (development of the stadium) will lead to more retention of our best talents instead of exporting them all the time. But people will still remain free to go wherever they want to be, but they can also look at home for such retention and development of what they want to do.
“There is no excuse for our young footballing talent. You have to work hard, you have to work smart, and let us be counted among the best on our continent,” he added.
Amahoro Stadium has been undergoing a facelift since August 2022, with Turkish construction company Summa undertaking the renovations.
Besides the football turf with a cutting-edge hybrid surface, blending natural grass and artificial turf, Amahoro boasts an eight-lane track for athletics events, a paralympic gymnasium, and training facilities for football, handball, and volleyball.
The sports arena has also been fitted with various amenities, including VIP lounges, an Amavubi bar, dressing rooms, washrooms, coaches’ offices, a massage room, a changing room, and a FIFA office.
Additionally, there are rooms for match officials, a medical room, a doping control room, a staff management room, and a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Room, among others.
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Minister Hua reaffirms China’s commitment to global development
Participants in the CIPCC program embarked on a comprehensive tour of China, visiting 12 provinces, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Fujian. They experienced the country’s diverse culture, history, and modern advancements. Key moments of the program included, visits to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, leading Chinese companies, and participation in significant international forums, among others showcasing China’s role in global cooperation and development.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Hua Chunying highlighted that while four months may seem short, the journalists gained a rich and immersive experience in China. “I am sure you now know more about China than many foreign friends who have come to China dozens of times,” Hua stated, welcoming graduates to feel at home whenever they return to China.
China is now considered a locomotive of global growth. According to the World Bank, from 2013 to 2021, China contributed 38.6 percent to global growth, more than the G7 countries combined. Hua emphasized that China will maintain its contribution to the global development landscape.
“Through your journey in China, you can see that China’s high-quality development and high-standard opening up are closely linked to the world. China’s development has and will continue to bring more opportunities for the world,” she stated.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of CIPCC. Since its inception, the program organized by the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), has seen the participation of 620 journalists from 141 countries, evolving from a regional press center to a global initiative.
Also present at the event, was the CDPA President Wu Hailong who underscored journalists’ role in countering untruthful stories.
He expressed optimism that with the deepening of participants’ observation, knowledge, and understanding of China, they will continue to introduce the real China to their respective countries, regions, and the world.
“Western media write numerous untruthful stories that defame China and are self-defeating. The China story you tell will be more authentic, convincing, credible, and easily recognized and accepted,” he added.
As the ceremony concluded, there was a sense of accomplishment and anticipation for future engagements. The journalists left with a deeper understanding of China, ready to share their experiences and foster global dialogue.
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Rwandans abroad can now get national IDs, passports at embassies
In a notice, the Directorate General of Immigration and Emigration (DGIE) said the service will be available on a new system developed by the immigration department in collaboration with the National Identification Agency (NIDA) and Irembo, an online platform that enables access and provision of government services.
“This was implemented to facilitate the Rwandan community abroad without national ID cards,” the DGIE said.
“The biometric data will be captured from the nearest embassy and be used for the processing of both National ID and e-Passport.”
Interested applicants are required to submit their applications for National ID cards and e-Passports on the Irembo portal.
Irembo was introduced in 2015 to allow people to access government services online with the [ issuance of e-Apostilles being among the latest services onboarded on the portal ->https://en.igihe.com/news/article/rwanda-starts-issuing-and-accepting-e-apostilles-from-other-countries].
Early this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MINAFFET) in partnership with Irembo started issuing and accepting Apostilles from other member countries of the Hague Apostille Convention of October 5, 1961.
The initiative makes the legalization process for public documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates faster, simpler, and digitized through the use of electronic Apostilles (e-Apostilles).
“Rwandan documents intended for use abroad will be processed digitally and accessible through the Irembo e-government platform [https://irembo.gov.rw->https://irembo.gov.rw/]. Foreign documents apostilled abroad will be directly usable in Rwanda,” officials said.
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China Focus: CPC leadership to hold reform-themed plenum from July 15 to 18
The plenum, which will primarily examine issues related to further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization, will last until July 18, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Thursday.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired Thursday’s meeting.
The meeting decided to submit a draft decision on further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization to the plenum for deliberation.
At the meeting, Political Bureau members were briefed on comments on the draft, which were taken from both within and outside the Party. The draft will be updated after discussions at the meeting.
The draft has thoroughly analyzed the new situations and problems in advancing Chinese modernization and scientifically planned the overall arrangements for further deepening reforms, according to the meeting.
It was noted at the meeting that the draft serves as a programmatic document guiding deepening reform across the board on the new journey and demonstrates the resolve of the Party Central Committee with Xi at the core to open up broad prospects for Chinese modernization through further deepening reform.
Elaborating on the goals and objectives of further reform, the meeting said China will complete building a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035.
The system and capacity for governance will be basically modernized and socialist modernization will be basically achieved by 2035, it added.
The meeting spelled out principles to be upheld in furthering reform.
It emphasized upholding the Party’s overall leadership and safeguarding the Party Central Committee’s authority and its centralized and unified leadership.
It stressed the people-centered philosophy, adding that the principal position of the people and their creativity should be respected.
The meeting stressed seeking innovation while adhering to what has been done right.
It said socialism with Chinese characteristics should be unswervingly upheld and innovation should be explored in theoretical, practical, institutional, cultural and other aspects.
The meeting also called for seeking institutional improvement and improving top-level design.
It underscored the importance of deepening reforms and advancing Chinese modernization under the rule of law.
The meeting also emphasized the importance of adopting systems thinking to balance key relationships between the economy and society, government and market, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, as well as development and security.
“The Party’s leadership is the fundamental guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese modernization,” the meeting noted, calling for turning the reform plan into a powerful driving force for advancing Chinese modernization.
