He said the two sides should accelerate the implementation of agreements on the 10-billion-dollar loan China provided for Kazakhstan to create favorable conditions for their cooperation in energy, mining and non-energy sectors.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev (R) attend the completion ceremony of the Kazakhstan-China natural gas pipeline in Astana Dec. 12, 2009. Rao Aimin/Xinhua]

Fifthly, Hu said the two sides should expand cooperation and exchanges in the fields of humanities and culture.

He said China is ready to expand cooperation with Kazakhstan in such areas as science, technology, education, culture, sports and tourism. He also announced a decision to increase from 100 to 200 the number of Kazakh students who study in China on Chinese government scholarships every year.

Nazarbayev agreed with Hu's five-point proposal and said the Kazak side was satisfied with the development of the good-neighborly friendship and strategic partnership enjoyed by the two countries.

Hu's visit took place on the eve of the 18th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence, which Nazarbayev said reflects the importance that China places on its relations with his country.

The two leaders watched the completion of a natural gas pipeline in Kazakhstan earlier Saturday. The pipeline is part of the China-Central Asia gas pipeline that links Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Noting that bilateral relations have ushered in a new stage of energy cooperation, Nazarbayev said his country was willing to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China in the fields of trade, finance, infrastructure, energy and non-energy.

He also agreed with China's handling of the July 5 incident in Urumuqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and reiterated his support for China's efforts to strike against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism

China's efforts were necessary to maintain stability in Xinjiang, and were good for stability in Kazakhstan, he said.

The president also thanked the Chinese government for increasing the number of Kazak students studying in China and said his country was ready to work with Beijing to smoothly run the two Confucius Institutes in Kazakhstan.

China and Kazakhstan have witnessed sustained, rapid and healthy progress of bilateral ties since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992.

Kazakhstan has become China's largest trading partner in Central Asia. Despite the global financial crisis, two-way trade reached 17.55 billion US dollars in 2008, exceeding the 15-billion-dollar target set by the two countries' governments.

China and Kazakhstan have also made concerted efforts in fighting against the "three evil forces", cracking down on drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes.

Hu arrived in Astana earlier Saturday for a two-day visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of Nazarbayev.

Kazakhstan is the first leg of Hu's two-nation Central Asia trip. He is expected to leave Kazakhstan on Sunday for Turkmenistan.