ASTANA Vladislav Namestnikov Lightning Jersey , June 5 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan has fully embraced the Belt and Road Initiative and is looking forward to more cooperation within the framework of the China-proposed initiative, says a leading expert in the country.


""Kazakh-Chinese relations have always been stable,"" noted Ruslam Izimov, head of the Eurasian Studies Program at the Institute of World Economy and Politics, in a recent interview with Xinhua.


""Kazakhstan and China have signed a large number of contracts and agreements in different fields over the last quarter of a century. And today this cooperation is all-embracing,"" he added.


He recalled that bilateral ties have been well developed in the energy sector Andrei Vasilevskiy Lightning Jersey , and in recent years great attention has been given to cooperation in transportation, agriculture, investment and interbank associations.


Highlighting that China is one of the top priorities of Kazakhstan's foreign policy, Izimov said, ""we have always regarded China as a key and strategic partner, our neighbor Victor Hedman Lightning Jersey , with whom we build friendly relations based on mutual understanding and mutual benefits.""


The Belt and Road Initiative, he stressed, is of special importance to the Central Asian nation, since Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the initiative for the first time in Kazakhstan.


Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in Kazakhstan and Indonesia, respectively, in 2013 Jake Dotchin Lightning Jersey , which later evolved into the Belt and Road Initiative.


Izimov said Kazakhstan has a very positive attitude toward the initiative because it allows the country and other nations in the region to become a kind of bridge between different civilizations and continents.


""Kazakhstan was one of the first states to put forward a counterpart initiative called Nurly Zhol, which is a Kazakh program to enhance cooperation with China at a higher level,"" said the expert. Nurly Zhol means ""bright path"" in the Kazakh language.


""In 2014 the two countries signed an agreement aimed at merging the two programs. Thanks to this decision, a lot of projects, such as the construction of the Khorgos dry port, have been implemented Braydon Coburn Lightning Jersey ,"" Izimov said.


""We need more ways to connect our countries,"" he said.