The 16th Meeting of China-Kazakhstan Joint Committee on Transboundary River Utilization and Protection was convened in Astana, Kazakhstan, from November 14 to 16, 2018.

　　The Chinese delegation was headed by Tian Xuebin, Vice Minister of Water Resources and Chinese Representative of China-Kazakhstan Joint Committee on Trans-Boundary River Utilization and Protection. The Kazakhstan delegation was headed by Yerlan Nysanbayev, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Kazakhstan Representative of the Joint Committee. Officials from ministries of water resources, foreign affairs and environment as well as local governmental agencies of both countries participated in the meeting. Under a friendly, pragmatic and constructive atmosphere during the meeting, the Joint Committee highly praised the achievements in advancing utilization and protection of transboundary rivers. The meeting proved to be a complete success and the minutes of the meeting were signed.

　　Tian Xuebin pointed out that China and Kazakhstan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 26 years ago, the two countries have always adhered to the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit and deepened cooperation in various fields. Entering into a new stage of comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries keep making new progress in trans-boundary river cooperation and have achieved fruitful outcomes in hydrological data exchange, emergency information delivery and data provision for the prevention of natural disasters, joint studies and construction, management and operation of water projects, which have benefited the people of the two countries and become new highlights of bilateral pragmatic cooperation. In the Sino-Kazakhstan Joint Declaration issued in June 2018, the leaders of the two countries spoke highly of the work of the Joint Committee.

　　Tian Xuebin mentioned that under the mechanism of the Joint Committee, the two parties should, based on the principles of scientific and pragmatic apppraoch, mutual respect and mutual accommodation, advance China-Kazakhstan transboundary river cooperation more proactively and make new contributions to China-Kazakhstan comprehensive strategic partnership.

　　Yerlan Nysanbayev noted that China-Kazakhstan Transboundary Cooperation is an important part of bilateral cooperation. He highly valued the Chinese side’s efforts in advancing the cooperation in this regard, and expressed his wish to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese side further. He applauded the achievements made at the 16th meeting of the Joint Committee and held that the meeting was a complete success thanks to the joint efforts of both sides.

　　During the meeting, the leaders and core members of the delegations from both countries inspected the Astana Reservoir and the Ishim River flood control project.