Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, June 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)

BISHKEK, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Thursday here, pledging to promote cooperation to benefit the peoples of the two countries and the region.

The meeting was held ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, which will be opened on Friday.

Xi congratulated Tokayev on his election as Kazakh president and applauded his contribution to the development of bilateral relations.

China-Kazakhstan relations have witnessed leapfrog development over the past 27 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relationship. The achievement is attributed to the care and promotion by leaders of the two countries for generations and ought to be doubly cherished, Xi said.

Hailing the solid foundation, clear direction and steady progress in the joint construction of the Belt and Road by the two countries, Xi called for deepening alignment of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Kazakh "Bright Road" economic policy to benefit the peoples of the two countries and the region.

The two countries should promote trade and investment facilitation, strengthen cooperation in production capacity, agriculture, high technology, finance, transport and logistics and that at local levels. More growth areas for cooperation should be created, Xi said.

He urged more efforts on people-to-people connectivity in a bid to enhance mutual understanding between the young people.

China is ready to enhance cooperation with Kazakhstan within the frameworks of the SCO and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia to make greater contribution to regional security and development, Xi said.

Tokayev conveyed congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Developing relations with China will remain a priority in Kazakhstan's foreign policy, which, he said, is significant to the development of his country as well as stability and prosperity of the region, and accords with the interests of the two peoples.

Committed to deepening the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, Kazakhstan is ready to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen cooperation in such areas as trade, transport, logistics and digital economy as well as intensify multilateral coordination with China.