On March 29, 2024, President Xi Jinping and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev respectively sent congratulatory letters to the opening ceremony of the Kazakhstan Year of Tourism in China in 2024.
Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Kazakhstan are good neighbors, good friends and good partners. The two peoples have a history of friendly exchanges spanning thousands of years, writing a beautiful chapter of exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations along the ancient Silk Road. Recalling that he first put forward the initiative of building a Silk Road Economic Belt in Kazakhstan in 2013, Xi Jinping said that over the past decade, both countries had fruitful cooperation in various areas, with the Belt and Road cooperation as the main focus, bringing benefit to the two peoples and revitalizing the millennia-old friendship along the Silk Road between the two countries.
Xi Jinping stressed that cultural exchanges and tourism cooperation serve as important bridges and bonds for people-to-people connectivity between China and Kazakhstan. In recent years, people-to-people and cultural cooperation between the two countries have been on the rise, as evidenced by the entry into force of the agreement on mutual visa exemption, the signing of the agreement on the establishment of cultural centers in each other's countries, the operation of the Luban Workshop, frequent youth exchanges, closer personnel exchanges and stronger foundation for friendship between the two peoples. Xi Jinping said that last year, he and President Tokayev jointly declared 2024 as the Kazakhstan Year of Tourism in China. He expressed the hope that the two countries will take the Year of Tourism as an opportunity to deepen cooperation on tourism, increase personnel exchanges, carry forward their millennia-old friendship to embrace the next "golden 30 years" in bilateral relations and make new contributions to building a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future.
In his letter, Tokayev said Kazakhstan and China are friendly neighbors with deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, and are committed to building a new "golden 30 years" of bilateral relations. With its long history and culture, numerous historical sites, magnificent natural scenery and hospitable people, Kazakhstan is well positioned to become the most popular tourist destination for Chinese tourists. Kazakhstan will hold a series of Year of Tourism activities to fully enhance Chinese tourists' understanding of Kazakhstan, further consolidate Kazakhstan-China friendship from generation to generation, and inject new strong impetus into the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
The Kazakhstan Year of Tourism in China in 2024 was launched in Beijing on Friday with the event co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan.