President Xi Jinping accompanies Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People on Thursday. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

President hails fruitful outcomes brought by Belt, Road Initiative

China and Kazakhstan should enhance the connection of their development strategies and boost cooperation in such areas as the economy, trade, energy and finance, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi made the remark while meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Nazarbayev will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit to be held in Qingdao on Saturday and Sunday.

Witnessed by the two leaders, China and Kazakhstan signed a number of cooperation documents covering areas such as finance, e-commerce, customs and production capacity.

Xi told his Kazakh counterpart that since he put forward the proposal of building the Silk Road Economic Belt during his state visit to Kazakhstan five years ago, the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded fruitful outcomes.

The initiative, which has met the related countries' practical needs for economic development, has become an important approach to building a community of a shared future for mankind, Xi said.