China to sign $10bn deal

CHINA is expected to sign 30 co-operative agreements worth $10 billion (R115.8bn) with Kazakhstan as Premier Li Keqiang begins his first official visit to the country, the official Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Xinhua did not give details, but quoted Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping as highlighting a joint-venture logistics base and urging interconnectivity with highways, railways, ports, air routes, oil and gas pipelines. “The Sino-Kazakh co-operation is developing rapidly. The volume of trade between the two countries is increasing annually by 20 percent,” Li said. Kazakhstan has become China’s second largest trade partner in the Commonwealth of Independent States, while China is the second-largest trade partner and the largest export market of Kazakhstan. – Reuters