Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev prior to a tree planting ceremony marking the 5th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at a hotel in western Shanghai, east China on June 14, 2006. -Xinhua

Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday vowed to promote China-Kazakhstan strategic partnership to a new high.

"China-Kazakhstan relationship holds an important position in China's foreign relations," Hu said in a meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the eve of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on Thursday.

Hu hailed the sound development of China-Kazakhstan ties, citing remarkable achievements in politics, economy and trade, energy, security and culture.

The strong China-Kazakhstan relations are bolstered by deep political trust, solid legal foundation, effective cooperation of mutual benefit, fruitful non-governmental exchanges and close coordination on international affairs, the Chinese president said.

"China is ready to boost China-Kazakhstan ties, promote the good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation and lift the strategic partnership to a new high," Hu said.

On promoting economic and trade cooperation, he proposed that the two sides push forward energy and gas cooperation, and jointly work for the initial stage of constructing the cross-border trade zone at Korgas port.

Speaking highly of Kazakhstan's important role in maintaining regional security, Hu said that China would like to enhance security communication and coordination with Kazakhstan through bilateral and multilateral channels, including the SCO and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia(CICA).

Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan will be committed to its strategic partnership with China, and will expand the two countries' cooperation in trade, energy, education and other fields.

"As Kazakhstan and China have identical stances and share interests on fighting the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, we will step up our cooperation with China," Nazarbayev said.

While appreciating the support China has offered to the CICA, Nazarbayev said he looks forward to seeing Hu at the CICA summit, which is scheduled for June 17 in Kazakhstan.

After the meeting, the two presidents attended a ceremony for the signing of some China-Kazakhstan cooperative documents.